Commentary by Beth Niedermeyer
One aspect I’ve especially enjoyed as superintendent of Noblesville Schools has been connecting with the community, listening and learning from you, sharing district challenges, plans and accomplishments and working together to best serve children.
This year, thanks to Current, we can extend that connection through a new quarterly column that will highlight what’s happening at Noblesville Schools.
We’re so thankful for the support of our referendum, and I wanted to use this first column to share progress being made on those funding commitments. We’ve been busy executing plans for enhanced safety, mental health and staff compensation.
We’re currently in the process of recruiting a safety director, mental health coordinator and AV technician (security surveillance). We’ll be posting openings for social workers, school counselors and middle school deans shortly.
We added four new school resource officers from the Noblesville Police Dept. this year and expect to add four more in August, thanks to the funding partnership with the city.
While I can’t detail all the specific safety enhancements we’re making without jeopardizing their effectiveness, I can share that we’re currently upgrading security systems and tightening access to our buildings.
We’re also at work on a new middle school mentoring program, diversity initiatives and integrating social/emotional support practices into all our classrooms.
As we’ve shared previously, 47 percent of referendum funding will be used to address shortages in staff compensation and we will be able to begin salary negotiations with our teachers’ association in September.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me, or our district and school leaders, with questions on these items or others. You also can join me at Table Talk the second Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at Noble Coffee and Tea, 933 Logan St.
Our website, noblesvilleschools.org, also is a great resource for additional information, and you can specifically reference referendum commitments at bit.ly/2LJbrNv.
Beth Niedermeyer is the superintendent of Noblesville Schools. She can be reached at [email protected].
