FARMINGTON — Regional School Unit 9 directors voted Tuesday night to create an educational technician III position to supervise high school students serving in-house suspensions.

The position will be 35 hours per week and include a stipend.

The weighted voted was 579-265.

The district has been hiring a substitute to oversee in-house suspensions.

The new position for Mt. Blue Campus replaces one that started out as a study hall monitor and expanded to include other duties, Assistant Superintendent Leanne Condon said. It was budgeted for 27½ hours per week with no benefits but the person needed to work up to 35 hours to get the job done, Principal Bruce Mochamer told directors.

The district has advertised the new position and interviews are underway, Superintendent Tom Ward said.

The person will be responsible for supervising and assisting students serving in-house suspensions, getting assignments for them, keeping attendance records and reporting daily attendance to the high school administration.

There are usually two or three students a day serving in-school suspensions, Mochamer said.

Some directors were concerned that the $32 million school budget was passed and the position was not discussed and no money was included for benefits, only money to pay them for 27½ hours per week.

Benefits could run between $8,000 to $9,000 for the individual, and $16,000 for a family, Ward said.

Initially, administrators discussed putting money for the position in the budget but other issues that needed to be addressed resulted in it being overlooked, Ward said.

Ward believes the additional costs can be covered through savings from hiring new staff at less money than what was budgeted. If not, he will have to ask the board to approve contingency money to cover some of the cost, he said. The district’s contingency fund totals $140,000.

The person who had monitored students on in-house suspensions was also the coordinator for the virtual high school, an online education program. The coordinator position was separated from the duties but a stipend was not budgeted.

There are 18 students participating in the virtual high school to enhance their education.

“We want to provide the very best for kids and virtual high school is an important aspect of customized learning,” Director Helen Wilkey of Vienna said.

The majority of the directors approved providing a stipend for the coordinator. Ward is hoping it will come from the stipend line in the budget, but if not, he would have to ask the board to approve contingency funds.

dperry@sunmediagroup.net

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