Student services personnel honored

LECANTO -- Director of student services Renna Jablonskis and coordinator of student services, equity and compliance Rich Hilgert flipped eggs and pancakes last week for student services personnel who were celebrating Student Services Week at the Family Action Center in Lecanto.

Student services personnel are employees who provide a wide variety of assistance to students and teachers. They include guidance counselors, social workers, school attendance assistants, parent facilitators, a shared alliance facilitator and the school resource officer supervisor.

They are located either at the Family Action Center or at Promise Village, behind Crystal River Primary School. Information or services available at the center include home education, the Student Code of Conduct, Safe School Plans, expulsions, due process related activities, attendance issues and other school-related services.

Promise Village offers information about -- and help with -- the Even Start Program, Saint Leo University, the Florida Diagnostic Learning Resource Service, and Goodwill Industries. Also, the Shared Services Alliance's facilitator, Danielle Damato, also can be found at Promise Village. She works with various community organizations to identify issues and develop strategies to improve the lives of Citrus County children and families.

Guidance counselors, based at schools, test and counsel students.

School social workers help solve student problems by working as liaisons among families, schools and community agencies. They can assist with crisis counseling and advise parents. The school system has three: Tomas Gonzales, Jessica Sartin and John Yule.

Attendance assistants work with students and parents to resolve attendance issues. They help enforce the Florida Compulsory School Attendance Law. There are five: Polly Davis, Lisa Jackson, Suzanne Webb and Pat Woessner, who are based at the Family Action Center, and Judy Lackenbacher, who is based at Promise Village.

Parent facilitators work closely with the attendance assistants, social workers, schools and families. They help families obtain medical, housing and economic assistance. They can provide counseling and other services. There are two parent facilitators: Kellie Redner at the Family Action Center and Patty Mitchell at Promise Village.

The resource officer supervisor, Sgt. Kevin Purinton, works with schools, parents, guardians, students and the community. The resource officers at the schools are provided by the Citrus County Sheriff's Office.

Also sharing in the festivities were the center's secretaries, Ginny Brown, Cindy Frazier and Judy Mei.

For information about any of these services, call the Family Action Center at 527-0090 or Promise Village at 795-7887.

-- Information from the Lecanto Family Action Center and Promise Village Full Service School Sites brochure was used in this report.

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