Slippery Rock Area School District is searching for a new coach, but not one who will instruct students in sports.

The school board on Monday approved the posting of a new instructional teacher coach position who would help elementary school teachers better instruct students on how to read.

Susan Miller, assistant superintendent at Slippery Rock, said the district wants to have every student able to read, and the instructional coach would help elementary teachers accomplish that goal in each classroom.

“The purpose of this position is to work with our teachers and provide a laser focus on elementary reading,” Miller said. “We're really excited about that and looking forward to seeing how that will help our teachers.”

According to Miller, the position is advertised to have the same schedule and pay for teachers, and the district is aiming for a new hire to start this upcoming school year.

The school board also approved the new student handbooks for the 2021-22 school year, and Miller said the elementary schools were a focus for administrators in this regard as well.

“One of the very nice things is we have the same elementary handbook for both buildings,” Miller said. “In the past, there were two separate ones, so our team worked very hard to combine those. It makes for better consistency and commonalities between the two buildings.”