NEW SCOTLAND — The school board named Karen Jones the district’s new director of pupil personnel services at its July meeting.

Jones replaces Robin Horton, the director of special education, who retired after 29 years.

“I live in Voorheesville and my children go to school here,” Jones told The Enterprise. “I was eager to become a member of this team.”

Jones’s children are in the middle school.

“We moved here for the district, the nice small district, for our children, and it’s been great. Now I’m here to work, and it’s even better,” she said.

New title

“The position is a little bit different,” Jones said of her new title, director of pupil personnel services, in contrast to Horton’s title of director of special education.

The district “reworked” the position, Superintendent Brian Hunt told The Enterprise.

“We want to have an integrated approach to serving our students,” Hunt said.

The director of pupil services still has a primary focus on special education, Hunt said.

Jones, as director, will oversee social work, psychology, guidance, and speech and language services for the district, Hunt said.

The district will continue to serve kids with special needs, he said, but the restructured position provides a more effective model.

Jones previously worked as a preschool special education coordinator for the Albany County Division for Children, Youth and Families. Now, Jones is in charge of Voorheesville’s special education students from pre-kindergarten to age 21.

“She’s a member of the community and familiar with the school district,” said school board President Timothy Blow.

He said that, by altering the job description, the district made the person in the new position responsible for several related services.

“We’re pleased to have her on board,” Blow said.

Experience

Jones did an administrative internship at Watervliet City School District. Voorheesville and Watervliet are similar in size, she said, with the middle and high school offices in the same building with the district offices.

“I got a lot of school-aged [student] experience in my internship,” Jones said. “I worked very closely with the principal.”

Jones worked for Albany County for 15 years, she said. Four years ago, she sought her degree for district leadership.

“In 2011, I went back to school to get my administrative certification. As part of this certification, I completed an administrative internship at Watervliet,” Jones said. She continued to work there after her internship was complete, ultimately spending 18 months there until March of this year, she said.

“When this job opened up, I knew this was where I wanted to be,” she said of the position in Voorheesville.

Jones is getting comfortable with the programs Voorheesville currently uses, she said, but she is already familiar with them after her work as the county preschool coordinator.

“I was part of the meetings [in Voorheesville] when children would transfer,” she said of preschool children who entered the elementary school. 

“I’m looking forward to creating more opportunities for special education students at the middle school and high school level, ensuring those students are career or college ready when they leave us,” Jones said.

Of the district’s roughly 1,200 students, about 135 receive “a wide range of services within our district and [the district] provides opportunities outside the district for students who may need a higher level of service,” Jones said.

“We have a great staff here, and everybody is really eager to put the best interest of the child first,” she said. “I’m excited to work with them.”