Additional Dean of Students

After a year like no other, bringing students back together for the first time in months has presented its share of struggles. If the school board has learned anything from Covid, though, it’s how to adapt. With struggles still present from the previous year, the board has decided to add a second dean to both West and North. 

“It’s temporary; however, when staffing conversations for the following year occur we are going to look at both high schools and determine if it continues to be a need,” Principal Erin Kohl said.

The big question is why such a hire appears necessary. A quick look at the events of the past years in both schools swiftly justifies extra help in regards to the struggles of students. 

 “ As we rebound from Covid and last school year when we were hybrid and virtual until the very end, there are so many academic needs from students who really struggled with learning,” Kohl said. 

With an additional administrator, they can focus on the students who struggled last year and continue to need help. 

“We just needed more resources in order for us to move that learning forward,” Kohl said of the hopes that an additional set of hands will be able to reach out to more students to further provide help. But who will actually be helping the students, the dean or the rest of administration? 

“The dean won’t be very involved, but some of the day-to-day things will help us [the other administrators] to be more involved and better support our teachers and students,” Kohl said .

One conflict continuing to cause concerns would be attendance issues.

 “Both of our high schools have very high absences and this will help us find time to focus on that attendance piece with students and families,” she said of the goal to focus on the attendance issues and help more students show up to class or to just be on time.The dean already has many responsibilities and, with having two, they would be able to be in more than one place at once. 

“The dean focuses on being visibly out by the doors every single day she is in the lunchrooms regularly being out in the hall and things like that,” Kohl said. “She is available if students have concerns and want someone to talk to. She is the person they can come talk to as well.“

The dean of students also deals with behavior referrals for students who break a policy and also helps students with attendance as well as detentions for  missing class. With the addition of a second dean they would be able to reach out to more students, leaving even more of a positive outcome. They also hope to ease the mind of parents with the addition of a second dean. 

“It's another person that parents can contact with concerns, it's another person that may be reaching out to parents if their student has concerns and things like that,” Kohl said.

By giving parents another resource to reach out to, they would be able to voice some of their concerns that have not yet been heard. Another hope is that it will allow for Kohl and the administration team to be more proactive with issues. 

“It will allow us to be more responsive to situations that happen with having extra hands helping out with those situations trying to be more proactive than reactive,” Kohl said.

Another positive to a second dean is that the money will not be funded by taxpayers. 

“These positions are being paid from the Covid relief funds, so it isn't taxpayer money that is paying for it because it really is in response to some of the academic and social emotional needs that have increased since Covid,” Kohl said.

By Lily Fournier

Oshkosh West Index Volume 118 Issue 1

October 6th, 2021