EMPORIUM — Members of the Cameron County School District (CCSD) Board of Directors voted unanimously to hire an individual to fill the new position of director of curriculum, instruction and assessment.

Bryan Shell was hired for the position and will be paid $70,000 per year for his services. Superintendent Dr. Keith Wolf stated that curriculum takes up a lot of time, and there are many changes that are necessary due to shifting state and federal education regulations. While most districts in the area do not employ a curriculum director, they have additional administrators on the payroll. CCSD has only a superintendent and district principal.

The new curriculum director will also assist with assessments, including the Keystones, PSSAs and retesting, conduct department and grade-level meetings regularly, and arrange for guest speakers and trainings.

Following a presentation by Diane Lyle, clinical manager with Community Care Behavioral Health organization, board members approved a plan to provide more mental and behavioral health services for students.

Services will be provided at no cost to the district. A team comprising one master’s level licensed clinician, two bachelor’s level interventionists and supporting staff will have office and conference room space in the high school in order to provide services to students in need, along with their families.

Students ages 5 to 20 can be enrolled in the program, and services can be extended to siblings, parents and other family members who reside in the home.

Eligible students would be in either regular or special education courses, have an Axis I diagnosis of serious emotional and/or behavioral disturbance, may be returning to school from another level of mental health care or off-campus educational placement, need services to prevent more restrictive mental health care or educational placement, and those with certain disorders that lead to behavioral issues.

The program is paid for through medical assistance and is intended to catch students who might need mental or behavioral health care but typically fall through the cracks. Especially in rural areas, access to providers who accept medical assistance is difficult and time-consuming.

Students who are referred to the program would be evaluated and walked through the process of applying for medical assistance. If the student’s family has a health insurance plan, they would be referred to services that their insurance will cover. The team will also be available to deal with any mental or behavioral health crises that occur in both buildings, though initial efforts will be concentrated in the high school.

Districts in Elk, McKean, Clearfield and a number of other counties across the region already participate in the program. Across the state, 67 teams serve more than 1,800 youths and their families in 127 buildings spread across 47 school districts.

The program will have its start in September, when a teacher training is being planned in order to lay out the referral process and other aspects of the program.

The board voted to provide a stipend to two junior high math teachers to attend the Summer Mathematics Workshop at the district. Title I funds will cover the cost of bringing in the trainer and compensating attending kindergarten through sixth grade teachers. Participants also earn Act 48 credits. The trainer will return to the district in October to work with participants in their classrooms. Questions were raised by some board member on why teachers were being paid for their time when they are receiving educational credits for the training. It was noted that in past years employees would not attend summer trainings unless they were offered some form of payment beyond the free educational credits.

Compensation packages for administrative positions were approved. Unanimous votes enacted the confidential employee and business administrator plans, while members Kelly Farabaugh and Christy Bennet voted against the administrative (Act 93 employees) plan. The measure still passed with a six-vote majority. Member Robert Lininger was absent.

The next regular board meeting of the Cameron County School District will be held at 7 p.m. Aug. 9. A workshop meeting has been scheduled for 7 p.m. Aug. 2.