LETTER: School budget reflects the work of and need for school administrators
May 17, 2024To the Community:
I am a resident of Duxbury and a teacher at Crossett Brook Middle School. I have not been involved in any decisions being made about the budget. I’m just a staff member speaking out in support of our school board and the Harwood Unified Union School District admin team. This letter is in response to a posting on Front Porch Forum that suggested HUUSD administrators' budget decisions were based solely on maintaining their own job security.
I respectfully disagree that our district’s budget decisions are, as one community member stated, “not about what’s best for students but rather about further safeguarding administrative positions.”
On April 30 when the school budget didn’t pass for a second time, our administrative team and school board were put into a position nobody ever wanted to be in. HUUSD now has to lay off staff members which equates to making cuts to programming.
At the May 8 school board meeting which I attended, they presented their next proposed budget -- a plan that has taken a Herculean effort from a host of people and many hours to formulate. To accuse them of a “lack of ingenuity” is a gut punch to a group of people who have lost sleep trying to figure out a way to do the most difficult task. It was not a budget decision that was made lightly and there was more discussion around it than just what transpired Wednesday night. They’ve been planning alternate budget scenarios in case the last budget didn’t pass.
Unfortunately, the impression was that this budget was pushed forward “without any serious challenge or discussion.” Those discussions had already happened. The budget has been an ongoing stressor for those employed in HUUSD as we all are dealing with the ramifications of it not being approved. A tremendous amount of time, effort, blood, sweat, and tears have been put into finding an impossible solution.
Currently, we have four new principals in the district. Each of them is in the first year of a two-year contract. If we wanted to eliminate one of those administration positions now, the district would have to pay out their contract. Fiscally, that just isn’t sensible. For any administrators who have been with the district for longer, the district would have had to have notified them by February 1, 2024, that their position was going to be cut. We’ve missed that deadline. So calling for administrative cuts just isn’t feasible with this budget.
Every school needs to have an administrator in the building not just by law but because it's what teachers and students need.
One can’t just throw ratios around and have that translate into daily operational happenings at a school. My building has two administrators for our 271 students. They do all the hard work including dealing with student behavioral issues so that teachers can focus on teaching.
CBMS has had only one administrator in the past and it’s not feasible for one administrator to handle the workload that comes with the position and do it effectively. Both of my administrators work tirelessly to make CBMS a safe and supportive place to work. They quickly and effectively deal with student behaviors and have implemented systems that support staff and students. Administrators are absolutely “student-facing” positions. To say otherwise means one doesn’t fully comprehend what our administrators do day in and day out.
In the case of my school, if there were only one of them to do it all, they would be unable to support the teachers effectively resulting in teacher burnout, which subsequently impacts our children. As it is, people are leaving the profession because educators are constantly being asked to do more with less. I am ever so grateful to both of my administrators for showing up each day, supporting our staff and students, and dealing with all the difficult situations that come with the job so that I can do what I love: Teach.
If anyone else is concerned about the integrity of the intentions of our HUUSD admin team I implore you to talk to an actual staff member at one of our schools. Please don’t accuse our administrators of being self-serving. They deserve better.
While I support the work of the school board and our admin team, I am disappointed that the current budget has not only removed the enrichment of a World Language program for our K-6 students but also the critical support of academic interventionists. Educators and parents don’t want to lose any programs. We know the value they hold for our students. However, when the community voted against the prior budget, this was the natural consequence of their actions. With this next budget proposal, we are now losing a total of 27 positions that provided a myriad of support for students. Our students will lose enough with these cuts and the subsequent ripple effects. Please vote YES at the next budget vote and protect what’s left of our educational system.
Tiffany Michael
Duxbury