School district redistributes workload of school social workers
Pocatello/Chubbuck School District 25 is seeing an influx of students into the district, specifically students in need of special education services. This has caused the district to change some staff and reorganize a little bit.
The biggest change is no longer having social workers in the elementary schools. But the district said those services are still being offered by others in the elementary schools.
School District 25 said it has a variety of special education services and personnel to help the students who need it, but had to make a few changes while continuing to see funding issues and to keep up with growth.
“We’re feeling the pinch of overcrowding as well, resources not keeping up with needs, and the stress that places on our classroom teachers, on our students and on the schools in general,” said Dave Miner, director of special services for the district.
Miner said the district recently replaced one social worker with a psychologist, leaving them with 2 1/2 social workers in the district. From there, they moved social workers out of the elementary schools, having them focus on middle and high schools.
But Miner said kids are still getting the help they need.
“Our elementary kids are getting identical services,” Miner said. “At the same time, we were able to move those social workers out of the elementary schools and into the middle and high schools, where more of a need for their services was determined.”
Miner said the kids who need the help get the help no matter what grade they’re in, and will be aided by social workers as they get older.
“Most of those kids are at the elementary level,” Miner said, “But as they matriculate through our programs they’re essentially evenly dispersed throughout our middle school and high school programs.”
Miner said the Pocatello/Chubbuck School District is the fourth largest in the state. He said they’re very proud they are getting recognized for their special education work. The school district has over 1,300 students who use special education services.
