South Butler School District administrators are considering staffing changes based on a variety of factors including retirement, course interest and student well-being.
Kip Johnston will be retiring after teaching orchestra and strings to students in grades 4 to 12 for over 35 years in South Butler. She brought a dozen students, representing 48 members of the orchestra, to play a song from the movie Titanic at the South Butler School Board meeting on Wednesday night. Speaking to the board, Johnston said the students deserved a certified string teacher to replace her next year.
According to Assistant Superintendent Richard Cavett, discussions about the vacancy are taking place and work to develop postings for all positions is ongoing.
Superintendent Dr. David Foley updated the board that recent student requests for course offerings next year will result in the administration recommending that an additional German teacher be hired. In addition to teaching at the high school, the hire would also allow South Butler to offer German to students at the Middle School.
Some students taking German during the current school year were taught by a teacher not dedicated to that subject.
Finally, administrators are considering guidance councilor candidates with the goal of increasing staffing in that area for the 2018-19 school year. Foley said earlier this month that adding another counselor could help reduce incidents of bad behavior as students would receive a greater amount of individualized attention. The South Butler School Board could vote on that hire as early as next month.
