PORT ANGELES — Meeting students’ academic, behavioral and emotional needs remained a challenge in the face of increasing demand for services and a straitened budget, Rhonda Kromm, Jefferson Elementary School principal and the acting director of special services, told the Port Angeles School Board at its Thursday meeting.
“We have 658 students in the district receiving special education services, that’s about 20 percent of our students,” said Kromm. The number has been trending steadily upward at about 1 percent per year, she said.
There had been a sharp jump in the number students receiving support in behavior and social-emotional learning. To better serve students with behavioral issues, Kromm said, the special services team was providing monthly professional development training; offering certification and recertification classes; and initiated more information-sharing between special education and general education departments.
A recently hired local board certified behavior analyst who designed behavioral intervention plans had been providing consistent support that was missing when the role was filled by an Educational Service District employee based in Bremerton.
Also, recent changes to the Child Find program, which screens and assesses 3- to 5-year-olds who may qualify for developmental preschool, had made it more streamlined and efficient for the team and for parents, Kromm said, although that program as well was growing.
“By the time everyone is placed next month we will have exceeded our capacity for 40 students,” she said, so special services was looking at adding another classroom in the fall to be able to serve all of the students.
“We have such a great team here,” Kromm said. “I want to give a shout-out to our teachers, our specialists, our school psychologists and paraeducators who are doing this work every single day in rooms with students, some of whom require extraordinary assistance.”
In June, Kromm will become the district’s next assistant superintendent, replacing Michelle Olsen, whom the board announced in March as the next superintendent. Olsen, in turn, replaces Marty Brewer, whose last day is Aug. 31.
Family navigators Alicia Scofield and Summer Cooper described to the board the challenges that came with helping reduce barriers to education many students faced, ranging from foster care to being unable to speak English.
By far the largest number of referrals Scofield and Cooper said they saw are for students experiencing homelessness. Scofield said 130 district students this year did not have stable, adequate housing. This was down from 150 last year, but slightly higher than the 2022-2023 school year when the number was 122.
Cooper said she and Scofield often drove 40-50 miles over the course of a day helping families and students by connecting them with community resources; assisting them through the truancy court process; making home visits; and providing transportation. They also delivered food, school supplies and other necessities.
Scofield and Cooper said the Family Navigator program would have to be expanded to meet the overwhelming needs of families and students across the district.
Board President Sarah Methner said that every school should have a Family Navigator on staff rather than just two who serve the entire district.
Superintendent Brewer said he agreed.
“This needs to be a part of basic education funding,” Brewer said. “If families aren’t experiencing success, it’s hard to expect students to experience success.”
The board will vote to approve a contract for groundwork and utilities at Stevens Middle School in a special meeting on May 30 at 10 a.m. in room 208 at Lincoln Center, 905 W. 9th St. The vote was originally scheduled to take place at the Thursday’s meeting, but the bid package was not ready in time, Brewer said. The name of the contractor won’t be released until the vote, but Brewer said it was a local business and the bid was under budget.
• Jefferson Elementary School teacher Angela Sickles introduced sixth graders Taylor Cummings and Elliot Whitaker as the students of the month.
• Methner, whose term expires in November, said she will seek a fifth, four-year term on the board. Methner said the district experienced a number of difficulties during her early years as a director, such as the closure of Monroe and Fairview Elementary Schools, and she was looking forward to a brighter future with the opening of three brand-new ones.
“I was there for the dark, and I want to be there for the light,” she said.
• Director Mary Hebert, whose term also expires in November, said she had not yet decided whether to run.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com
