Perrysburg will carry on new administrator to assist with variety, disability points | Neighborhood

PERRYSBURG – The school board has approved the appointment of a new administrator.

The Assistant Director of Student Services and Welfare would implement and maintain 504 services and “assist with programming, funding and support for ESL, migrant, homeless, nursing and vulnerable students”.

The new position will pay $ 96,000 per year, which Superintendent Tom Hosler says is in line with other positions in student services administration.

The debate arose with the additional role of “assisting the superintendent in leading the Committee on Diversity, Justice and Inclusion” and the related efforts to promote diversity.

The working group’s regular meeting on Tuesday included a presentation by Andrea Glesser, Director of Special Education, and Christin Lee, Fort Meigs Elementary Counselor, explaining what a 504 is, why it is important, and why it is necessary.

Glesser began by defining a classification according to Section 504.

“Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act 1973 is federal law that prohibits discrimination against disability in government-funded programs and activities,” Glesser said. A disability includes “the presence of a physical or mental impairment that significantly restricts one or more important life activities.

“Special education falls under the 504 umbrella.”

The district has a list of obligations under Section 504, which Glesser has summarized.

“Simply put, the district and its employees are not allowed to treat a qualified disabled person differently than other students because of their disability,” said Glesser.

Failure to meet obligations has led to lawsuits against districts. Glesser gave the example of a lawsuit that began before it started with the district and took five years to resolve.

While counselors are trained to work with Section 504, the training is not part of the school counselor’s graduate program. This means that the training comes from independent and external sources, all of which are different and lack consistent messages.

According to Glesser Klagen, this inconsistent “interpretation of obligations, processes, procedures, documentation and implementation” endangers the district.

She added that implementing the rules can also conflict with the role of the school counselor.

“I sit here and see that our consultants are doing things that they weren’t necessarily trained to do,” said board member Eric Benington. “It feels like something is really wrong here.”

The federal law is also not financed by the federal government. In this case, the position will be covered from the state budget in the wellness category.

There are currently 193 students falling under Section 504 and as of May 6, 844 hours of consultants were devoted to the program.

“We have seen that the number of students with more needs has increased,” said Hosler.

In 2013 there were 133 students with 504 programs.

The vote for the new position was adopted with one vote from Board member Kelly Ewbank against the new position.

Ewbank said it recognizes the need for a 504 coordinator on a part-time basis but is opposed to voting for the new role at a working group meeting and including the additional diversity-related responsibilities.

Hosler said staff and teachers have time from the last day of school until July 10 to apply for new positions. After that, a school authority must approve the move. The extra time affects a district’s ability to attract applicants.

“Of course there is a need for a 504, but I cannot agree that a person is needed for diversity, equity and inclusion,” said Ewbank. “This diversity, equality and inclusion is the Critical Race Theory.”

“We don’t teach critical racial theory. We teach the Ohio Standards and we’re doing a great job and it’s not going to change, ”said Hosler.

“Who will benefit? Our students. I think it’s a great move, ”said CEO Ray Pohlman.