HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson USD 308 School Board Monday appointed Valarie Gibson-Smith to a vacancy on the board.

Gibson-Smith replaces Rudy Rodriguez, who resigned from the board earlier this year. The new board member won the two-year unexpired term during the Nov. 7 election. The board could have waited until January to fill the seat, but decided to have a full seven-member panel earlier.

With the Nov. 7 election, another new member will join the board in January. Anette Roberson was elected to a four-year-term and will replace long-time board member Jeff Nichols, who did not run for re-election. Nichols first joined the board in July 2001.

Also winning four-year terms on the board were incumbents Kail Denison and Tad Dower. Not up for re-election in 2017 were members Randall Gray, Greg Meredith and Lance Patterson.

Monday’s board meeting also was a study session on trauma-informed schools. In a trauma-informed school system, the adults are trained to recognize and respond to students who have been impacted by traumatic stress. Teaching staff led the board through an examination of what it means to be a trauma-informed staff member.

Earlier this fall, Jim Sporleder, former principal at a school in Washington state, met with district administrators and gave a public presentation. The educator turned around an at-risk high school in Walla Walla by making a positive impact on the lives of students who came from extremely challenging backgrounds. The high school became a place where students impacted by trauma could learn at a high level, had fewer suspensions, had a higher graduation rate and more students went on to post-secondary education.

A documentary, titled Paper Tiger, has been made about Sporleder’s work in Walla Walla.

The board voted to support the USD 308’s training and implementation activities as a trauma-informed school district.