Sabbrina Landers
When Brookfield school administrators introduced the job description for community liaison, some school board members questioned why only a high school diploma was required.
The board supported the position and it turns out their fears did not come to fruition. Sabbrina Landers, who was hired to fill the position Dec. 19, has a master’s degree in education with a focus on school counseling.
Aside from her education, Landers has a number of qualities that school officials found beneficial, including her ideas, her experience in networking and fostering relationships with parents and young people and the “genuineness of her personality,” said school Supt. Toby Gibson.
“I think she is, hopefully, gonna break down barriers so we can help and lift our students,” Gibson said.
Landers has been coordinator of membership, volunteer services and programs for the Girl Scouts of North East Ohio since 2005, according to her Linkedin profile. Her bachelor’s degree was in business.
“I thought it fit some of my professional and educational goals, and that I would be able to make a difference in the school,” Landers said of her interest in the position.
She was one of 12 applicants, Gibson said.
The job description is wide ranging but, because she is starting mid-year, her initial tasks will be limited.
“I don’t wanna throw her in the deep end right away, so we’re gonna start off with attendance and working with our assistant principals and elementary principal with House Bill 410 and the attendance process,” Gibson said. “That way she can get to know some families and some students and then from there work on some family engagement opportunities, and we’ll kind of see where things go.”
House Bill 410 of 2017 deals with truancy and compulsory school attendance.
“We’ve been waiting for you for a while, so we hope you’re ready to hit the ground running,” said school board member Derek Mihalcin.
“I am,” Landers said.
“I know I will be focusing some on our students that have a lot of absentee,” Landers said. “Also, bridging the gap between community resources and our families. There are some things that maybe families don’t realize, but there are some things for them. That is going to be my job, to bridge that between the schools and the families and the community.”
Landers, who lives in Liberty, said she has worked in classrooms before under the auspices of the Girl Scouts on issues such as preventing bullying, social-emotional development and career development.
“I feel like I bring some new ideas, perspectives, things like that,” she said.
“We’re excited,” Gibson said. “It’s gonna be fun to see a new position grow, hopefully.”
Landers was awarded a one-year contract at $44,381, or $24,064 for the remainder of the school year. She started Jan. 3, when school resumed after the holiday break, and has an office in the elementary school.
The position is paid for from the district’s annual federal Title 1 grant.
