Martin Luther King Jr. Academy Student/Family Transition Support & Dropout Prevention Specialist

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform the essential job functions satisfactorily.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the primary job functions herein described. Since every duty associated with this position may not be described herein, employees may be required to perform duties not specifically spelled out in the job description.

JOB SUMMARY

Primarily responsible for liaising support services to students and families transitioning into Fayette County Public Schools from internal and external alternative placement facilities, governmental agencies, and programs. Promotes a culture of diversity and inclusion embracing differences as a strategic opportunity for supporting the district’s efforts to build a culture of equality embodiment for all students, families, employees and the community. Creates, supports, and develops community engagement and professional learning opportunities for assisting students who are a risk of dropping out of school. Provides social and emotional supports to students that ensure intentional focuses are on educational, job-related, college and career guidance to student- centered and project based learning environments in timely, appropriate, and collaborative manners.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

• Assists the Equity Officer in planning and conducting internal and external public relations programs and strategies for ensuring that adequate student-centered learning environments and job-related placements are in place for students.
• Serves as the primary point of contact/liaison between schools, agencies, and students re-entering the district from alternative placements. Works collaboratively with external agencies, businesses, and organizations to support the needs of students transitioning and reintegrating the school district.
• Provides mentorship opportunities, life coaching strategies, and activities for identified students from high needs/asset areas of the district/schools to ensure wrap-around supports are in place in support of academic assistance, student work, and test preparations.
• Establishes a positive rapport and interfaces with parents/legal guardian, families, courts, social service and civic agencies, court designated workers, and case workers.
• Works collaboratively through a cross-functional team approach with offices/departments to ensure students transitioning from alternative placements receive the required legal assessments from a review committee (ARC); effectively communicate with students, parents, families, and school administrators of student needs.
• Collaborates with other offices/departments to ensure programs/activities are in place to educate parents/families of all students on career/college readiness topics including, but not limited to, high school academic offerings, career exploration, post-secondary application processes, post-secondary financial resources.
• Builds internal and external partnerships for establishing a database of businesses and agencies to create internships/apprenticeship opportunities that create career/job embedded learning and skills development for students returning and reintegrating to the community.
• Fosters comfortable atmospheres that facilitate open exchanges of information and dialogue for students and their families that create a positive transition and reintegration back to campus life by assisting them with recognizable feelings of anxiety and self-doubt for achieving success.
• Provides train-the-trainer capacity building learner opportunities for skills development in problem solving and conflict resolution that restore and sustain relationships between students-to-staff; staff-to-student; student-to-student; and, families to mitigate cultural bias and insensitivities.
• Plans and implement activities, projects, programs, and student-centered services designed to address the social, emotional, and academic supports to educate Latinos boys and girls; and boys and girls of color.
• Assists in the planning and coordination of districtwide programs, initiatives, and special projects, and community engagement events.
• Ensures high standards of excellence are maintained to prevent illegal, unethical, or improper conduct and to ensure the program remains in compliance with district policies and procedures.
• Promote and model a balanced lifestyle for students, emphasizing academic achievement, personal development, and involvement in extra and co-curricular learning.
• Adheres to school schedules and assists with ensuring that students are adequately and appropriately placed in schools and programs in a timely manner.
• Completes required reports and documentation in a timely manner, provides management with required reports and advises of any problematic situations.
• Commits to attend ongoing professional growth training and staff development courses for enhancing skills for executing job-related practices.
• Maintains confidential information related to FERPA and HIPPA appropriately and exercises good judgment when communicating with the public.
• Demonstrates the ability to communicate in more than one language or the willingness to learn to communicate in more than one language at the novice level of proficiency.
• Performs other duties as assigned.
• Maintains regular attendance.

KNOWLEDGE AND ABILITIES

 Knowledge of:

• Electronic media communications to include computerized text-editing, word-processing, marketing design and content development.
• Public school system operations, policies and programs.
• Ability to produce, analyze, interpret, and summarize data.
• Ability to interpret policy and procedures.
• Demonstrate effective organizational skills and project management
• Ability to evaluate programs and practices and develop short and long term plans.
• Interpersonal skills using tact, patience and courtesy.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with multiple audiences including faculty, staff, students, families, post-secondary institutions and business/industry professionals.
• Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.

ABILITY TO:

• Work flexible hours, including evenings, weekends, or beyond the regularly scheduled work day with little or no advance notice.
• Plan and organize work accordingly.
• Provide analytics to educational data and material and possess the ability to present it in easy-to-understand formats and metrics for general audience.
• Deal tactfully and effectively with FCPS personnel, external organizations and the general public by maintaining cooperative and effective working relationships with others.
• Maintain confidential  information  appropriately and  exercise  good  judgment  when communicating to the public.
• Proficiency in  the  use  of  personal  computers  and  desktop  publishing  skills  with demonstrated ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing.
• Work independently with little direction.
• Meet schedules and time lines.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in counseling, social work, public administration, communications, business administration, public relations, or an education related field.
• A minimum of six years of professional experience in counseling, social work, public administration, communications, business administration, public relations, or an education related field (preferred).

Licenses or Certifications:

• N/A

Special Requirements:
N/A

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

• Work is performed while standing, sitting and/or walking.
• Requires the ability to communicate effectively using speech, vision and hearing.
• Requires the use of hands for simple grasping and fine manipulations.
• Requires bending, squatting, crawling, climbing, reaching.
• Requires the ability to lift, carry, push or pull light weights, up to 30 pounds.

The Fayette County Board of Education is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The Superintendent shall adhere to a policy of equal employment opportunity in all personnel matters. No person shall be subjected to discrimination in regard to employment, retention, promotion, demotion, transfer or dismissal because of race, color, religion, sex (including sexual orientation or gender identity), genetic information, national or ethnic origin, political affiliation, age or disabling condition or limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.