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77 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, September 16, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend August 20, 2004 Juvenille center classes will take on role of tutors By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune Students expelled or suspended from Medford schools will lose home tutoring services and instead attend classes at the Jackson County Juvenile Service Center when it opens in early October. District officials claim the plan will be more efficient and more effective because one teacher will be able to instruct numerous kids together for an extended block of time. However, a specific cost comparison hasn’t been done. The district also plans to shift instructors to the hulking center on 10th Street between King and Laurel streets to teach a larger number of detained kids and kids living in a shelter there. "It seems like a perfect coalescence of services," said Carl Erickson, deputy director of Jackson County Community Justice, who oversees juvenile services. He notes that the center also will have offices for mental health and substance abuse counselors, as well as probation officers. In past years, the school district has sent tutors to the homes of students who couldn’t attend school due to suspensions, expulsions, pregnancy or illness, said Dan Zaklan, director of secondary education. Tutors provided an hour of instruction each school day. Although the number of students needing such tutoring varies through the year, it peaked last year between 75 and 80, he said. Advertisement The tutors are hired at an hourly wage as needed, much like substitute teachers. They also are paid mileage for their travel. The district will continue to send tutors to students whose medical conditions prevent them from coming to class. The district also will send tutors to help students for whom detention center classes might not be appropriate, Zaklan said. "We will be conscious of the age and situation of the child," he said. For example, few elementary students are removed from school, but those who are won’t be sent to a class with older students. Generally, though, having suspended and expelled students attend an off-campus class instead of sending a tutor to them "is more cost-effective and gives students more instructional time," Zaklan said. One tutor can visit five students each day. A full-time teacher at the center will work with 15 to 20 students in each of two daily, two-and-a-half-hour sessions, he said. The center also has computers and space for hands-on projects, such as art or mechanics, Erickson said. A high school teacher whose position was cut in budget-balancing efforts this spring will transfer to teach at the center, Zaklan said. From the start of school next month until the center opens, classes will be at Vibes, a downtown youth center. A child-development specialist, also slated to lose her job because of budget cuts, will transfer to teach the shelter students. These children aren’t detained, but live at the juvenile center temporarily because of abuse and neglect or while awaiting drug or alcohol treatment, Erickson said. The county currently has space for 16 such youth at its shelter in Talent, but will have room for 20 when the program moves to the new center, he said. Previously, Southern Oregon Education Service District provided teachers for the shelter. Medford will teach those students at the Talent shelter next month until they move into the new facility. Medford has one teacher assigned to the county’s 20-bed juvenile detention hall at the South Gateway Shopping Center. That teacher will come to the new facility when the kids do. The new center will have 40 beds and the district expects to transfer another teacher there in January to handle the additional students, Zaklan said. The center’s classrooms are available to the district rent-free and both district and county officials praised the partnership. Classes for each group of students will be held separately and the students won’t co-mingle, Erickson said. Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities