Homeless students and those in the foster care system are about to get a new advocate at Manteca Unified School District.

Tonight the board is scheduled to approve the creation of a new classified position – a health and safety specialist for homeless students and those in the foster care system. Those issues were previously handled by Caroline Thibodeau – the Director of Health Services – and her staff. Thibodeau recently retired.

The position, according to the draft documentation provided in the board packet, would be responsible for “developing or maintaining interventions strategies for homeless or foster students, make medical referrals to school nurses, consult with homeless and foster liaisons, case manager and site administrators, work with community agencies and provide case management as needed.”

The position is funded 100 percent in the budget. 

Board approval would lead to the creation of the position, and whether the decision is made tonight will depend on a new rule being proposed that would limit the amount of time that board officials can take to transact business on a given night. If that new rule is implemented then it’s possible that the portion of the meeting that isn’t completed would carry over to the next day – a likely possibility since two highly charged items including the censure of Trustee Sam Fant and the board’s response to a scathing grand jury report are expected to eat up a large portion of the allotted time.

The board meets tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the district office on Louise Avenue west of Airport Way.