The Winslow Unified School District Governing Board met last week where they discussed and approved implementation of “Focus Zones” in all three elementary schools beginning in the 2022-23 school year.
Superintendent Connie Gover explained, “There are certain requirements we must meet with our ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) grant funding. One of those requirements is a focus on social/emotional learning. Everything that we do with those funds has to make up for loss of learning due to the pandemic and other factors.”
ESSER funds are distributed by the federal government and administered by the Arizona Department of Education. For the Focus Zone project, Gover said, “We have $100,000 from that grant set aside to help fund this. These zones are an alternative to suspension for our elementary aged students. We know some kids will still need to be suspended, but this will give kids a chance to get to a supervised room to regulate themselves and to get their behaviors under control. Sometimes, it will be just to understand and identify the emotions they are having, and to deescalate so we can get them back in to the classroom so they don’t miss much instruction.”
She mentioned the intention to develop sustainability plans for the future of the program after grant funding has expired.
Focus Zones will be supervised by a paraprofessional with specific behavioral training. As Gover explained, they will also be overseen by a certified teacher with extensive training on social/emotional health.
Governing Board Clerk Debbie Martinez said, “I went to observe the program at Jefferson School, and I realized what a great program this is and what a need we have for it in our schools.”
In addition to Focus Zones, the governing board also approved the four-year purchase of an online program entitled In Focus by Focus Education Group.
Gover said, “This program has things for teachers, students and parents who are seeking extra help for them or their child. The modules have things they can use to address the social/emotional health and education of the kids. We will be using the ESSER II funds for this purchase and it will be available for four years for the entire district, from kindergarten through high school.”
According to the In Focus website, they focus on “Teacher and student well-being, curriculum design and system wide change,” as it relates to overall health of all stakeholders in the district. The contract amount was not disclosed by the governing board at press time; however, the cost of the program will be covered by a non-match grant.
In other business, the governing board:
* Heard a presentation from Federal Programs Director Denise Estudillo. In her report, Estudillo mentioned Winslow Junior High art instructor Christa Knox and band instructor Tyler Allen have been invited to participate in a podcast by “Arts are Education” with the topic being the importance of arts in the social/emotional health of students.
* Approved the return to work after retirement next school year for Debra Stacy and Randy Hummel.
* Approved the hiring of Nora Gillies, custodian; Richard Hodge, Tabatha Nez and Madison Zamora, substitute teachers; and Benjamin Del Mar and David DeGroff, bus drivers.
* Approved the transfer of Jessica Scott from paraprofessional to Bonnie Brennan Health Technician effective Aug. 1.
* Approved the retirement of Charlie Hancock, facilities maintenance supervisor, effective June 30.
* Accepted the resignation of Breanna Juarez, Bonnie Brennan Health Technician, effective April 4; and year end resignations of Bailey Cunningham, Melissa John and Laurel Turley.
* Recognized employees of the month, Mica Vasquez, Leroy Thomas, Deb Lopez and Tamara Dooley.
* Approved the revised job descriptions for paraprofessional and teacher assigned to Focus Zones. The revision was to add behavioral health training as a requirement.
* Approved a work session for 1 p.m. on April 22 with the location to be determined.
The next meeting of the Winslow Unified School District Governing Board will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 20, in the board meeting room, located at 800 N. Apache Ave.
