School district moving forward with plan to cut positions
TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools is moving forward with plans to cut positions to help make up for budget shortfalls. During the school board meeting on Tuesday, June 24, several teachers and other personnel urged the Board of Education not to cut positions.
Cuts to staff were included in the district’s cost-saving plan, which was implemented to make up for a $42 million budget shortfall. Earlier this month, interim Superintendent Catty Moore instructed principals across the district to come up with staff reductions plans.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, over a dozen speakers urged district leaders not to eliminate media coordinator positions. Several current media coordinators with the district told the board that eliminating the position will have long-term negative effects on students. “While all budget decisions impacting personnel are difficult, these decisions set a dangerous precedent. Media coordinators are indispensable tools for deeper learning and student achievement,” said Sara Elizabeth Lewis, media coordinator at Southwest Elementary.
In her two minutes given to address the board, Lewis gave a brief rundown of some of the responsibilities for media coordinators which includes teaching media literacy and online safety, managing millions of dollars in resources including Chrome Books and library collections, managing school’s websites, and serving as tech leads at most schools. Lewis mentioned that Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) did away with media coordinator positions and almost immediately saw a negative impact on student achievement.
In addition to Lewis’s comments, media coordinators from Forest Park Elementary, Cash Elementary and Rural Hall Elementary also spoke during the school board meeting. “Cutting the media coordinator role is shortsighted. It does not save money; in the long run it costs student achievement,” Lewis said.
While it is unclear how many positions the district plans to cut, principals have until the end of August to submit a list of affected staff to the district. At the start of Tuesday’s meetings, Moore made it clear that recent numbers from the district’s personnel report are not part of the savings plan. Moore said this happens every year, and the numbers in the report reflect staff that were operating under alternative licenses and did not seek specific requirements before those licenses expired.
WS/FCS is still working with the State Auditor’s Office and a final report on the district’s financial state is expected to be presented during a special called school board meeting in July.
