Position Type: Special Education and Student Services/Social WorkerDate Posted: 8/14/2024Location: Special Education and Student Services Department
Position: Social Worker Job Type: Full-time Contract: 220 days; 11 month employee Salary Scale: Per approved board scale FLSA Status: Exempt Virtual Risk (COVID-19): Mild Risk In-Person Teaching Risk: ModerateGeneral Definition of Work: Performs school social work services designed to provide a comprehensive approach towards meeting the needs of students through early identification, intervention, prevention, counseling and support, and connection with families and community; Works collaboratively with school personnel and parents to reduce or eliminate the social, emotional, environmental, and other barriers that may interfere with a student's ability to benefit maximally from his/her education. Minimum Qualifications: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required.Essential Functions: (These are intended only as illustrations of the various types of work performed. The omission of specific duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related, or a logical assignment to the position.) - Completes sociocultural evaluations on students referred or previously identified for special education services.
- Participates in eligibility meetings, child study teams, IEP teams, Section 504 teams, Manifestation Determination Review teams, and other teams as appropriate in assigned schools.
- Meets with parents of children with suspected disabilities to ensure understanding of their parental rights and all procedural safeguards.
- Provides counseling to children identified as disabled, or at-risk for school related problems.
- Monitors attendance and truancy of students in assigned schools and works with families to overcome barriers to school attendance.
- Files court petitions for truancy; collects information related to cases and attends juvenile court when appropriate.
- Serves as coordinator for Home Instruction (homeschooling) in accordance with the Code of Virginia
- Provides teachers and other school personnel with information about out-of-school lives of children and evaluates the impact of home and community factors on children's progress in school.
- Helps parents to understand the programs and objectives of the school and encourage their involvement in the education of their child.
- Coordinates and provides requested information and reports from state agencies (Examples: McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act; Foster Care, Home-schooling;
- Provides information, support and referrals to community agencies for families;
- Provides parent education and training as appropriate.
- Participates in division wide policy committees as required.
- Provides transportation, as needed, to facilitate parent attendance at school meetings.
- Enforces residency requirements based on the Code of Virginia and policy of New Kent County Public Schools
- Serves as a member of the Crisis Intervention Team, including the Threat Assessment Team for assigned schools.
- Home-school liaison which often requires the school social worker to conduct home visits.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Thorough knowledge of the policies, procedures, methods and techniques used in the special education process for assessing sociological needs of individual students; thorough knowledge of federal and state mandates and local procedures and regulations relating to special education programs; ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing' ability to effectively relate with persons from a diverse social and economic background; ability to operate a personal computer; ability to work with and through other school personnel, parents and community agencies; ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with associates, students and parents. Education and Experience: Master's degree of Social Work with coursework in social work or related field (sociology, counseling). Special Requirements Possession of appropriate license(s), certificate(s), and/or endorsement(s) for position as required by the Commonwealth of Virginia and School Board. Possession of an appropriate driver's license valid in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the ability to operate motor vehicles. Marginal Functions: While the following tasks are necessary for the work of the unit, they are not an essential part of the purpose of this position and may also be performed by other unit members. Performance Aptitudes Data Utilization: Requires the ability to review, classify, categorize, prioritize, and/or analyze data and/or information. HumanI Interaction: Requires the ability to maintain a cordial and effective relationship with visitors and clients. Equipment, Machinery, Tools, and Materials Utilization: Requires the ability to operate, maneuver and/or control the actions of equipment, machinery, tools, and/or materials used in performing essential functions. Verbal Aptitude: Requires the ability to utilize a wide variety of reference, descriptive, and/or advisory data and information. Mathematical Aptitude: Requires the ability to perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division; ability to calculate decimals and percentages as needed; may require ability to utilize principles of fractions and/or interpret graphs as needed. Functional Reasoning: Requires the ability to exercise independent judgment to apply facts and principles for developing approaches and techniques to problem resolution. ADA Compliance Physical Ability: Tasks involve the ability to exert light physical effort in sedentary to light work at the work site daily, but which may involve some lifting, carrying, pushing and/or pulling of objects and materials of light weight (up to 25 pounds). Tasks may involve extended periods of time at a keyboard or workstation. Sensory Requirements: Some tasks require visual perception and discrimination; Hearing is required to perceive information at normal spoken word levels; Most tasks require oral communications ability. Environmental Factors: Tasks are regularly performed without exposure to adverse environmental conditions, such as dirt, dust, pollen, odors, wetness, humidity, rain, fumes, temperature and noise extremes, machinery, vibrations, electric currents, traffic hazards, animals/wildlife, toxic/poisonous agents, violence, disease, or pathogenic substances. Work is generally in a moderately noisy location (e.g. business office, playground, classroom, light traffic).The New Kent County School Division will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities to allow them to perform the essential functions of the job. Evaluation: Performance on this job will be evaluated in accordance with school board policy and administrative regulations of classified personnel. Supervision Exercised: Administrator of Student ServicesNew Kent County Public Schools will conduct a background investigation (fingerprinting) of all individuals recommended for employment.The New Kent County School Board is an equal opportunity employer, committed to non-discrimination in recruitment, selection, hiring, pay, promotion, retention or other personnel action affecting employees or candidates for employment. Therefore, discrimination in employment against any person on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, political affiliation, sex, gender, gender identity, age, pregnancy (including childbirth or related medical conditions), marital status, sexual orientation, genetic information, veteran status or disability is prohibited.