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School Tries to Replace Librarian with Computer TeacherA New Hampshire elementary school has fired its library media specialist as part of a reorganization to meet state education standards. Officials plan to hire a computer teacher and staff the library with a paraprofessional instead.The Tamworth School Board had eliminated John Perkins’s position at the Kenneth A. Brett School April 13, according to a June 13 Associated Press report. School Superintendent Gwen Poirier said in the June 16 Carroll County Independent that the school needs a certified computer instructor to meet New Hampshire’s minimum standards for public school approval, and that Brett is in its second year of conditional approval because it does not have an elementary computer education program. Perkins told the Independent he contacted Leslie Higgins, an education consultant at the New Hampshire Department of Education, who told him he could easily obtain the certification necessary. Perkins has also applied for the computer teacher position, which has not yet been filled. The school board held a public hearing June 7 at Perkins’s request, where current and former staff spoke in support of keeping his position. “A paraprofessional would probably not be able to work with the [school’s] database, and I would need to be down here doing backup,” testified school Computer Technician Charles McNevich. “Right now I don’t have to worry about stopping at the library and keeping everything working.” The board has until June 22 to decide whether to reinstate the position. Posted June 17, 2005. |
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