St. Tammany Parish created a new job position dedicated to Children's attendance.

(ST. TAMMANY,LA) St. Tammany Parish created a new job position focused on child welfare and attendance.

 The board passed the position on February 8 supporting the concept of the new position, with Michelle Ruffino Gallaher, district 15 abstaining due to concerns with not including specific terms within the job description that would enable young adults to qualify for the job. 

Superintendent of Human Resources Steve Alfonso, 50, introduced the notion and explained the importance of the position to the board. 

“The Child Welfare Attendance Investigator is vital due to STPSB being used as an-out-of district destination for students in surrounding areas. When students do not live in our district, they do not pay a homestead tax. They are benefiting from something they are not paying for. The investigator will research these circumstances,” Alfonso said. 

The position sparked interest when an individual who worked within the transportation division investigated bus stops, accidents, surveying land and bus safety and lent his expertise to the division. Due to his assistance investigating out of area students, his efforts took away from his assigned job, which raised awareness for the need to open the CWA investigator position. 

“A transportation investigator doesn’t have time to do this specific job because the four individuals we have experience overlapping times. Transportation workers are out on bus ramps at 6:00 a.m. helping principals inspect the buses and watch the bus footage, they’re certified to give break tags. The biggest thing they do is working with public officials with land and during bus turnarounds, work with law enforcement to inspect videos of incidents that occur on buses. We had a transportation investigator assist with these things and the individual experienced such an overlap it caused a disruption in his designated position. The need is a great need,” Alfonso said. 

Applicants for the Child Welfare Attendance Investigator must meet the following qualifications: the individual must be a U.S citizen, have a high school diploma or equivalent, a valid driver's license and general knowledge of Microsoft Word. Law enforcement background is preferred. The responsibilities of the position include conferring and planning regularly with the Child Welfare and Attendance Coordinator regarding students’ current residency and health standards, conducting needed verifications of student residency and enrollment when requested, making home visits to verify student residency and promoting and supporting diversity and inclusion. 

Amanda Martin, 44, represents district six and said she voted yes to support the need for this position because it’s important and it’s becoming more of a problem.

“It’s important because everything in the school system is based on numbers from the number of teachers we need at each school to the number of buses. When out-of-district students attend our schools, it increases the need for another teacher or a bigger classroom. It decreases the amount of personalized attention the teacher gives the students and increases the number of students who need to be fed by the food service department. The tax rates are not the same in all the cities in this parish, and it's not fair for parents to pay the money for an out-of-district student to attend a school they reside out of…I think the investigator is going to help these problems,” Martin said.

Mary Hart, 58, Assistant Superintendent of Administration, has been a part of St. Tammany for 28 years. She thinks this new position is crucial for St. Tammany Parish because several families outside the parish claim residency in it. 

“When it takes away from the resources from the students who do live in St. Tammany Parish, it’s a problem. Their parents pay taxes and that's the reason we needed the position,” Hart said.

Hart added the board specifying preferring law enforcement offers the parish and the individual a sense of protection and responsibility for the technicality and expectations of the position.

“Law enforcement is preferred because these people will be knocking on people’s doors to verify residency. We want someone level-headed with good investigative skills. The investigators work with students who are truants and get explanations for too many absences. If we have a child who’s missing so much school, they’d talk to the parent and find out why and what we can do to get their kids at school where they need to be. This is something we have been thinking about for a long time, and we felt like it was time to bring it up to the board. Every year this gets worse and worse, so it was time to do something about it,” Hart said. 

The position is currently advertised through the St. Tammany Parish website. For any further questions and interest regarding the Child Welfare and Attendance Investigator position, please contact steve.alfonso@stpsb.org or mary.hart@stpsb.org. 

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