GLADSTONE — With the 2018-19 school year set to begin on Tuesday, Sept. 4 locally, the Gladstone Area Schools Board of Education approved hiring of several different people to fill positions in the district during its regular meeting Monday.

The board approved hiring Stacey Reath and Michele Schaeffer to fill the positions of behavioral interventionist and behavioral specialist, respectively. The positions were created as part of the district’s new behavioral intervention program.

Board President Linda Howlett said Reath and Schaeffer will work with elementary-level children in need of additional support.

“We have a lot of kids dealing with … different types of traumas and behavioral issues,” she said.

Board Trustee Steve O’Driscoll said filling of these positions will be a boon for the district.

“(It’s) a great investment in our kids,” he said.

The hiring of Jason Irving as junior varsity volleyball coach, Dan Williams as junior varsity girls tennis coach, Kelly Shea as varsity baseball coach, Kathryn Sinclair as school nurse, and Gina Boney as special education teacher was also approved by the board.

The hiring of various Teamster employees was approved Monday, as well. This included the hiring of Pamela Belanger, Candice Parks, Heather Johnson, and Sarah Kowalski as building aides, Cristine Christoff as a Title One aide, and Suzell Eisenberger as a food service employee.

Howlett said with the hiring of these employees, there will no longer be any vacant positions in the district.

“We now have all of our vacancies filled,” she said.

Superintendent Jay Kulbertis noted this is not the case everywhere in the area. He said there are currently 11 vacancies in the Delta-Schoolcraft Intermediate School District, and 40-50 vacancies in school districts across the Upper Peninsula.

“That’s alarming, and becoming an increasing concern because districts are really trying to find creative ways to recruit more talented individuals,” he said.