Ignacio school officials are looking to hire a behavior specialist to help with students whose behavior problems or emotional issues are beyond what teachers and school counselors can handle.

Around 20 kids in the district have been identified for this level of response, Superintendent Rocco Fuschetto told the school board on May 14. They are fairly evenly distributed among the district's schools, he said.

Kathy Herrera, approved that night as the new elementary school principal, said five incoming kindergartners and three other IES students will need a behavioral specialist.

Middle School Principal Chris deKay said he has three or four students who need that.

Fuschetto said, "A couple months ago, we were looking at an ED teacher" to work with emotionally disturbed students. "There was discussion to have a behavioral specialist to handle the hard core cases. The situation goes to the teacher, the special ed teacher and counselor as the first step to deal with a kid. Next is BOCES (San Juan Board of Cooperative Educational Services) and the self-contained area (special classroom). Third is the behavior specialist, the kids that need the intensive training." It's the last option before expulsion, he said.

He added, "If the counselor almost has (a problem solved) but needs a bit more help, they can work with the behavioral specialist."

Board member Troy Webb wants the behavior specialist to have an aide as well.

The behavioral specialist position is in the draft 2015-16 budget that was given to board members for review. The budget must be approved by June 30 for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

In a related item, Fuschetto reported the academy the district operated this year for mid and high school students with behavior issues or for credit reccovery "hasn't been working as well as we were planning. It's created a lot of issues. We're going to move those kids back into the buildings. We can put them in a self-contained area in the mid school if we have to. There will be a place at the high school."

He continued, "When we put them in the academy, they didn't have to have an IEP (Individual Education Plan). There will be incentives to behave better," such as getting to move out of the self-contained room for art or another regular class. One academy teacher will go to the mid school and one to the high school, Fuschetto said. He clarified that this is totally separate from the center-based program at the high school that serves students with serious special needs and one-on-one aides.

"The academy building (the old district administration building) is empty now," he said. "We'll call it the Student Support Center - the behavior specialist, the BOCES people (occupational and physical therapists), the dog person (social worker with a therapy dog) will be there."

Also on May 14, Fuschetto said he is having high school general contractor FCI and RTA Architects come up with estimates to buy and install security cameras for the football and baseball fields. The district was among sites around Ignacio recently hit with spraypaint vandalism. There's a $500 reward from Crimestoppers for information leading to arrest of the suspects, and Fuschetto said he'll contribute another $500 for the reward. A security video showing three young men tagging buildings is on the district web site.