Central Greene students to see psychiatrist without leaving school
WAYNESBURG – The Central Greene School District is the first in the state to use a program that will connect students to a psychiatrist without the student leaving school or the doctor leaving his or her office, the district’s superintendent said Tuesday. The telepsychiatry program will give the student and the psychiatrist from Centerville Clinics a direct connection through computer monitors while a trained mental health worker will sit with the student during the session, according to Dr. Jerome Bartley.
He said the program, which will target about 12 high school students, will help them get the services they need without requiring additional transportation.
“The system is portable, and if this works here, we might be able to do it at other schools,” Bartley said. “It’s a new program, and we’re the pilot for it.”
The program, which will be tested at Waynesburg Central High School next week, is supported by the Greene County Human Services department and the state Department of Public Welfare’s Office of Mental Health, he said.
Among the board’s other business, directors transferred Jan Leaver, fifth-grade teacher at Waynesburg Central Elementary School (WCES), to an art position at both elementary schools effective at the start of the second semester of the school year.
The board transferred Dawn Rigney to a 4.25-hour cook position at WCES, Susie Clark to a midnight shift custodian position at WCES and Sherry DeAngelis to an afternoon shift custodian position at WCES. All three moves are effective as of Nov. 22.
Directors also granted a maternity leave for Jill Heldreth, WCES kindergarten teacher, and for Andrea Layton, high school English teacher.
Under extracurricular staff, the board hired Tom Camps as assistant junior high wrestling coach, and named Charles Michael as volunteer assistant junior high wrestling coach, Dave Coldren as volunteer assistant seventh- and eighth-grade basketball coach, Mark Snyder as volunteer assistant junior high basketball coach, and Pete Morris as volunteer assistant varsity basketball coach.
The reorganization meeting will be held on Monday, Dec. 6 at 6 p.m. The committee meeting will follow. The December meeting has been changed to Dec. 14 at 6:30 p.m.