Lacey Schools To Reduce Paraprofessionals In Budget Crunch

Paraprofessionals at Lacey schools face a significant staff reduction as the Board of Education plans to make cuts to their position due to decreasing state aid. The Lacey community nearly filled the auditorium at Monday's school board meeting, with many citing concerns about how those potential cuts will affect students with special needs.

School board President Shawn J. Giordano estimated that the district holds 70 or 80 paraprofessionals, who assist students with various special needs and perform specialized duties. The new proposal would fire them and rehire only 35 to 45 percent of them full-time, Giordano said.

Lacey school officials issued paraprofessionals "reduction in force" notices earlier this month. Lacey's school district is set to receive a $623,156 cut in state funding for next school year, decreasing the budget by 2.97 percent to $20,347,244.

Read more: State Aid Decreases For Lacey School District

Superintendent Vanessa Clark said at Tuesday's meeting that students on and Individualized Educational Program will continue on those IEPs. Any paraprofessional with a change in assignment would receive necessary training, she said.

But many parents expressed concerns about a different staff member being assigned to their child for one-on-one help. Several said the current paraprofessionals have done great work with their children, and a change in personnel could set their child back.

"(My daughter) goes to Vocational, and if she doesn't have her para on that bus ride, she gets all beside herself," one mother of a child with severe anxiety said during public comments. "I will say that this particular year has been really good for her with the program that she's in."

Clark said rumors that staff would be hired back for minimum wage are false. But she said administrators have considered offering paraprofessionals between $10 and $18 an hour, figures which received jeers from the large crowd.

"(Officials) keep talking about consistency, that my child will still receive the same level of care," one parent said. "I'm just not sure how that's possible if only 35 to 45 percent of these paraprofessionals are going to be hired back full-time with benefits. ... It's not possible that they will all be receiving the same level that they are right now."

The state has prepared to slash state aid for Lacey schools by more than $4.7 million over the next six seven years.

"From a historical perspective, the Lacey Township School District has never faced the kind of state aid cuts that we are about to face over the next six years," Clark said. "This is unprecedented for us."

Board member Frank Horvath said the teacher's union has the power to grant a one-time concession that would allow the district to keep paraprofessionals with specific skills and who work individually with students. But their current contract requires that staff receive job preference based on seniority.

Michael Ryan, president of the Lacey Township Education Association, the district's teachers union, said the seniority rule is in place to prevent experienced paras from being replaced by less expensive employees.

"We already have a shortage of paras," Ryan said. "We don't have enough paras to cover the needs of the students."

Over 100 parents, paraprofessionals, teachers and students attended the school board meeting. The audience grew so large that it violated fire code in the lecture hall.

Officials offered to keep the meeting in the lecture hall and have some people watch the live stream in classrooms. Community members abjectly declined and were willing to wait a half hour for meeting set-up in the auditorium.

About 20 school community members pleaded to the school board to reconsider their proposed cuts to paraprofessional staff. The meeting ran for more than five hours.

The school board approved the tentative budget, presented by Business Administrator Patrick deGeorge. The final budget will receive a final hearing May 6, before its May 14 submission deadline, deGeorge said.

Officials insisted that they have made cuts where they could and think this is the best course of action.

"I know families that have children who are special-needs children," Giordano said. "I know the difference a para makes. I'm pretty certain the other six board members know the difference paras make."

But several public commenters did not feel this decision puts the students first.

"If children come first, you wouldn't be doing this," said one mother, fighting tears and receiving applause from the crowd.