Behavioral Specialist program to continue

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By Dan King

The Whitehall Board of Education voted Monday to continue the district’s much-discussed behavioral specialist program.

In an effort to curtail behavioral issues at the school, the behavioral specialist program employs four specialists across the district’s two schools, at a cost of $28,000 each.

Approval of the extension is contingent upon a review of the program’s merits after the current contract expires on June 30.

Superintendent Liz Legault said the committee that will review the program’s merits will include “administration, the board, faculty and maybe even some students.”

The committee will supply oversight on the program.

“We’re always looking back at things and looking at ways to make programs better,” Legault said. “We’ll reevaluate the personnel to make sure they’re matching the criteria we set forth for a behavioral specialist.”

The position was continually recommended by Legault, who called it a “huge success.”

“The data shows that this program works,” she said.

Legault’s opinion on the program was supported by a 9-0 vote from the board to extend it.

A few parents spoke in favor of the program as well. One couple said the district’s behavioral specialists “helped diffuse a situation with our son that could have gotten dangerous.”

During the previous month’s board meeting, Washington County Sheriff’s Deputy Tim Carroll reported a decrease in the number of police responses to the district since the program began.

Other parents and members of the public voiced opinions against the program, calling it a “waste of money” and referring to the specialists as “glorified hall monitors.”