By Adam Knoll
Correspondent
The Whitewater Area Unified School District Board has chosen Mark Maas to serve as Dean of Students at Whitewater Middle School for the remainder of the school year. Maas has been selected, effective Jan. 7, to serve a 108-day limited term.
“Our intent is to evaluate this program by late spring and make a determination at that time as to whether or not it merits continuation,” Eric Runez, district administrator, said at the Dec. 16 school board meeting.
Maas will assist the principal in building and maintaining a safe and positive school environment.
Maas beat out four other candidates, all of whom were “excellent, viable candidates,” according to Runez. School Principal Tanya Wojciechowicz said she felt that Maas’s experience and knowledge of the school’s staff would be a great benefit while moving positions around.
Maas himself holds 35 years of public school advisory experience where he has been commended for his work with diverse and at-risk students. He has been able to grow close ties between the community and the school that he works in, and his student first mentality will be a great addition to the school. Whitewater middle school holds 430 students.
The program, which is a start-up venture with no outgoing Dean of Students, is to be funded by moving projects around from differing school funds to make room for the hire. The move, according to Runez, is a basic one. “We are taking dollars out of the general fund and shifting it into fund 41, primarily maintenance projects,” Runez explained.
For the role of Special Education Aide at Washington Middle School, Marie Parlier has been chosen over seven other applicants. Parlier, who is replacing Elizabeth Clover who resigned last month, is trained in non-violent crisis intervention, also has experience working with children with autism and can serve as a therapist and technician. Parlier is assigned to work for four hours per day, which became effective Dec. 3.
Also hired as a Special Education Aide at Whitewater Middle School is Shannon Murphy who will replace another staff member that resigned, Irma Ramos.
Murphy holds a BSE in Physical and Health Education from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and is CPR certified. Like Parlier, Murphy is assigned to work for four hours per day, which began Nov. 18.
Crossing Guard Week
The local school district will observe Adult School Crossing Guard Recognition Week along with schools throughout the state.
During the Dec. 16 school board meeting the following proclamation was read:
“Adult School Crossing Guards typically serve with a dedication that discounts the rigors of harsh weather, split shifts and heavy traffic. For more than five decades, adult school crossing guards have served communities across Wisconsin; and that service has helped drive down the rates of young pedestrian deaths and injuries.”
Tony Evers, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, has declared the week of Jan. 13-17 as “Adult School Crossing Guard Recognition Week” in the State of Wisconsin.
