Methuen school officials approve staffing changes
Aug. 10—METHUEN — In response to a May stabbing incident, the School Committee at its Aug. 8 meeting approved the hiring of three building safety monitors whose role will be to patrol every inch of Methuen High School every school day.
"These folks are literally going to get 20,000 steps a day," school Superintendent Brandi Kwong told the committee. "We think this will make a huge difference at the high school."
The new positions are in response to a safety assessment done after a May 2 stabbing during which a former student approached another student, resulting in the stabbing.
According to police, the stabbing was instigated by a 15-year-old boy who formerly attended Methuen High. Police say the teen entered the building and confronted a 16-year-old male student he knew. Police said the 16-year-old was in possession of a four-inch blade. The 15-year-old was transported to Boston Children's Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The 16-year-old student was charged with two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, one count of armed assault with intent to murder, one count of carrying a dangerous weapon on school grounds and one count of assault by means of a dangerous weapon.
At a School Committee shortly after the incident, Police Chief Scott McNamara suggested that the district hire an outside company to conduct a school safety assessment.
The result of the assessment was that the district needed full-time safety monitors.
Kwong said the safety monitors will be employed by the district rather than by an outside agency.
"We need them hands-on, on the ground," she said. "They're going to be part of our team."
Each position will have an annual salary of $40,000.
Additional positions
The committee also approved several other new positions, including the appointment of Bruce Stella as the assistant director of facilities. In this capacity he will oversee the district's custodial staff and enforce safety regulations. The position will have an annual salary range of $80,000 to $90,000.
In addition, the American Sign Language teaching position at Methuen High School will be elevated from part-time to full-time. Kwong said the candidate for the position has requested full-time status and that a sufficient number of students have requested to take the course.
"We have 100 students who want to take this," she said.
The position will have an annual salary of $70,251.
Kwong assured the committee that the staffing changes will be completely funded by the fiscal year 2023 budget.
"I would not put these forward if we didn't have the money," she said. "I vowed, when I took this position four years ago, that that was something I would never do."
Reorganization of English Learner Department
Kwong said the resignations of three English Learner (EL) administrators has created the need to reorganize the district's EL Department.
Although the director position has not been filled, Jessica Hubert was chosen as the interim K-8 EL supervisor having been an EL teacher at Tenney Grammar School since 2019.
Lisa Golobski-Twomey will oversee the English Language Arts and EL departments at Methuen High School. In addition to being the chairwoman of the school's English Department on two occasions, Golobski-Twomey was also the district's interim assistant superintendent from November 2018 to June 2019.
Kwong said there will also be lead EL teachers at each grammar school.
The department's reorganization will yield a $70,000 savings in this year's budget.
More Than 60 Positions Remain Open
According to the district's website, 62 job openings were posted as of Aug. 5. Although Kwong did not see this as a cause for alarm, she said there are a number of openings for EL and special education teachers, which are always challenging to fill.
"Our teaching staff is in pretty good shape," she said. "The numbers are not as alarming as people are talking about. People are not leaving in droves."
