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Staff Issues A Concern In Switzerland of Ohio School District

Switzerland of Ohio Board of Education members this week discussed whether one person can continue effectively doing the work of two positions.

Curriculum Director Zac Housley pointed to the potential hire of a second physical education teacher at Skyvue and Powhatan elementary schools, where one teacher is currently employed doing double-duty — covering each school for half the time. Housley said this creates problems with scheduling, which would be alleviated with a second full-time position.

“Currently they share one full-time teacher. They spend half their time at each school,” Housley said. “It’s really hard for them to make their schedule when they don’t know they’ll have that teacher every day. … If we pursue that, that means we’ll be back to having a full-time PE teacher at every elementary school.”

Board member Jackie Hupp affirmed her desire to see the position filled, stating the need for physical activity by the district’s students.

“Every building should have one, plain and simple. I think these kids need exercise. When so many sit at home, we need to get them up and moving,” Hupp said.

Additionally, local proprietor Walter Russell, owner of Russell Bowling in Woodsfield, proposed introducing bowling as a sport in local high schools, further expanding physical education options available to students. Russell said schools in Barnesville and St. Clairsville, among others, are already in a league, which would connect the students with other districts.

The board and superintendent agreed to look into the matter of adding bowling to the roster of sports in coming weeks, but Hupp added that would likely not come until the 2017-18 school year.

Housley also recommended creating the position of dean of students at several schools to handle student discipline, freeing the district’s principals to serve in more of a guidance role.

“When you have your principal in a building, you really want them to be there for guidance and with curriculum — your instructional leaders in the building,” Housley said. “But when you’ve got a principal who spends six hours a day in their office doing discipline issues, they can’t really be the leader that you need them to be. Our district definitely needs instructional leaders. Not that they’re not doing a good job, they have other things on their plate taking them away from the instructional side of things.”

Hupp, however, questioned whether the district could afford to hire administrators when discussion over whether they could afford part-time faculty in other areas was still ongoing.

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