It is easy to think of teachers when you think about a school, but did you know about all of the classified employees who create the conditions for student success? We have bus drivers, bus mechanics, instructional aides, a technology coordinator, cooks, secretaries and clerks, custodians, and maintenance personnel.
Many of these valuable employees are the first and last school people your child may see during the day. It is the bus driver who first greets your child in the morning and the last to say goodbye in the afternoon. Our bus drivers hold commercial driver's licenses with additional training in school bus procedures. In addition to their annual training, they are under similar rules as truck drivers in that they must have periodic substance tests and have limits placed on the number of hours of driving time. Our transportation supervisor and bus mechanic keep all of the buses in working order. This includes inspections every sixty days plus a full annual inspection. Safety is our highest priority in transporting students. School bus transportation is the safest method of transporting students; even safer than parents driving their own children to school.
Our instructional aides provide numerous services for students and other staff members throughout the school year. These individuals provide one-on-one and small group instruction under the supervision of a certified teacher, recess and lunch room supervision, and individual speech therapy under the supervision of a contracted speech-language pathologist. Each of our instructional aides must meet the high standards of the No Child Left Behind act which includes at least two years of college and/or passing an extensive battery of general education assessments.
Our technology coordinator provides essential services to keep our computer systems operating for the benefit of staff and students. In addition to maintaining over 200 computers, a large bank of servers, and many peripherals, he insures that we meet state and federal law, such as the Children's Internet Protection Act. Then there are software updates, repair of hardware and future technology planning. The services of a qualified technology coordinator have become critical in school today. We are fortunate to have an individual with a bachelor's degree in information technology with extensive education experience.
Our cooks arrive early daily to prepare meals for the students. Before a meal can be prepared however, they must plan the menu which includes meeting federal nutrition guidelines. Our kitchen operates under similar rules to restaurants and employees must have on-going training so that we meet all of the requirements. The cooks are also responsible for inventory and budget plus serving meals to students.
When you call the school, you are likely to be greeted by a member of our secretarial staff. The secretaries in the school office must answer the telephone, communicate via radio to the bus drivers, provide band aids for students, call home when students are ill, and maintain student records including data entry. Their duties can include student supervision, helping teachers enter their grades, maintaining the student database, tracking purchase orders, accounting for student body account funds, paying bills and much more. The Clerk of the Board handles all Board business including minutes, elections, legal advertising and documents plus she is responsible for accounts receivable, accounts payable, and payroll. She also handles our attendance reporting, federal grant reports and helps the superintendent complete his work.
The District employs two full-time and one part-time custodian. These people work hard each afternoon and evening cleaning the school and conducting maintenance so that the building is ready for children and staff every morning. During holidays and summer break, they conduct heavy cleaning and maintenance so that the facility will last well into the future. Recently, they have been conducting additional sterilization to protect against the swine flu.
Facility maintenance requires significant expertise to keep all the sophisticated systems operational and safe. These include the HVAC system which is computer operated for efficiency, electrical, plumbing, refrigeration and other mechanical systems. Much of this work must be conducted during non-school hours in the evenings or on weekends to minimize the disruption to student learning. Grounds maintenance, including snow and ice removal and landscape maintenance, is another important aspect of this department. We want patrons to be proud of their investment in their schools.
As you can see, we have a myriad of classified employees working hard to support our important work and make school a safe and welcoming place for our students. You may not always see them or their work, but understand how important their contributions are to the proper functioning of an effective learning environment and say thank you when you get a chance.
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