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The Fayette Board of Education unanimously approved a $4,599 proposal to establish Clark Middle School principal Abby Arnette as a district-wide CPI trainer during its regular meeting held on …
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The Fayette Board of Education unanimously approved a $4,599 proposal to establish Clark Middle School principal Abby Arnette as a district-wide CPI trainer during its regular meeting held on Thursday, January 17.
The short meeting was held on Thursday afternoon. The board annually holds a daytime meeting in January after members spend the day touring the school and visiting classrooms.
According to the Heart of Missouri Regional Professional Development Center at the University of Missouri, Nonviolent Crisis Prevention & Intervention (CPI) training focuses on prevention and equips individuals with proven strategies for safely defusing anxious, hostile, or violent behavior at the earliest possible stage.
“That is the certification you have to get if you’re going to go hands-on and restrain a student,” explained district superintendent Brent Doolin. “You can defend yourself if you’re attacked, but you cannot restrain a child unless you are CPI certified, legally.”
Formerly, the district trained around 15 of what Doolin called “key people in key positions,” who might be called upon to restrain a student.
Training takes place every year at a cost of around $920. An in-house trainer can teach CPI to anyone in the district for no additional charge. Board members expressed the desire to extend that training district-wide. However, Mrs. Arnette will not be allowed to train members of other districts.
Mr. Doolin hopes the up-front cost will pay for itself within five years.
“We would cover that cost for that person to get trained and then we would save that cost over the next probably five years,” he said.
Mr. Doolin said the district would need an agreement with the in-house CPI trainer that states if she were to leave within the next five years, she would have to pay back a prorated portion of the training cost.
“A certification goes with them when they get trained,” he said. “I’ve already talked to somebody. They’re pretty solid that they’re staying here for the next five years,”
At the meeting, Mr. Doolin did not name the CPI trainer. He later confirmed Mrs. Arnette would be the CPI trainer in an email exchange with the Fayette Advertiser.
The district’s three building administrators who attended the meeting placed high value on portions of the training that emphasized de-escalation.
“I think from a teacher’s perspective in the classroom, you just feel a little bit more secure whenever you know how to do what CPI trains you to do,” Mrs. Arnette told the board. “The likelihood that you use it is not super high but just knowing what to do in those moments just makes you feel a little bit more proper.”
In other business, minutes from the closed portion of the Board of Education’s December meeting revealed that FFA teacher Chad Fossum resigned halfway through his term. The board voted 7-0 to accept his resignation and rehired retired FFA teacher Doug Chambers.
Apparently, no one knows why Mr. Fossum left the district halfway through his contract. Mr. Doolin said that “Mr. Fossum did not state a reason in his resignation letter” and that “it would be unprofessional for me to speculate his motivation for resigning.”
The board also voted 7-0 last month to hire Kevin Oeth as a para-professional and Connie McClure as a substitute teacher.
The school board currently has three candidates for two seats that will open in April. Incumbent and longtime board president Skip Vandelicht has filed for a third term. Newcomers Aaron Cunningham, a local chiropractor, and Braun Home caretaker Ray Snyder also filed their candidacies for the April 8 election.
The school board meets at 6:30 p.m. in the high school library on the third Wednesday of every month except for July. Meetings are open, agendas are published in advance on the district’s website, and the public is invited.
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