BUSD approves agreement for instructional assistants

A community college student pays resident tuition if he or she is a resident of that community college district or an adjacent community college district. The Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District borders the Palomar Community College District, so Bonsall Unified School District residents attending Grossmont College or Cuyamaca College would pay resident tuition.

An agreement was needed for a foundation to pay Grossmont College and Cuyamaca College students to be instructional assistants at BUSD schools, but that was approved during the May 15 BUSD board meeting.

The board’s 3-0 vote, with Michael Gaddis and Pascal Lapoirie absent, approved the memorandum of understanding with the Foundation for Grossmont and Cuyamaca Colleges. Grossmont College or Cuyamaca College students will staff up to 26 available positions at the five BUSD schools. The agreement is for an 11-month period beginning Aug. 1 and ending June 30, 2025.

“We have the opportunity to bring trained experts into our classrooms,” said BUSD superintendent Joseph Clevenger.

The state has a Regional K-16 Education Collaboratives Grant Program, and the Foundation for Grossmont and Cuyamaca Colleges received a grant from that program to implement the Undergraduate Student Work Experience Program which provides paid work experience to undergraduate college students who are interested in pursuing a career in K-12 education.

“We not only continue to bring higher education into our classrooms, but we’re also bringing in highly qualified, highly motivated support for our teachers and for our students,” Clevenger said.

Any BUSD students who themselves desire a career in education will have another benefit from the interaction with the community college instructional assistants. “It gives our students an opportunity to see where they can be in a few short years if they work hard,” Clevenger said.

The Foundation for Grossmont and Cuyamaca Colleges has entered into an agreement with Manpower Temporary Services, which will be the employer of record for the Undergraduate Student Work Experience Program students.

The school district’s responsibilities include ensuring that participants complete the required BUSD paperwork, monitoring and certifying the participants’ time at the school site and the fulfillment of their job description duties, and day-to-day control and supervision of the instructional assistants.

The school district has indicated the availability of 10 collaborative instructional aide positions at Bonsall Elementary School, four at Bonsall West Elementary School, and two at Vivian Banks Charter School. The middle school and high school positions are called collaborative tutors, and six of those will be available at Sullivan Middle School with four such opportunities at Bonsall High School.

The collaborative instructional aides will tutor individuals or small groups of children, reinforce instruction to individuals or small groups of students in coordination with the teacher, answer student questions and assist students with workbooks and drills and lead groups in learning activities.

The aides will also assist teachers with the preparation and presentation of learning materials, collect papers and supplies, explain words and meanings during student reading activity, administer and score tests, monitor and supervise student conduct in the classroom and on the playground, confer with the teacher regarding student progress and problems, and assist with maintaining student records as required.

The collaborative tutors will provide academic support including classroom and homework assistance, explain concepts in a manner students can understand, observe and evaluate students’ work to determine progress and to make suggestions for improvement.

The tutors will also adapt teaching methods and instructional materials to students’ optimal learning techniques, provide positive feedback and reinforcement to students, conduct assessments with students, measure and report student progress, supervise and monitor students, and communicate with parents as needed.