Librarian issue creates controversy for Silver Lake board, teachers

(This article appeared in the April 20, 2009 edition of The Ledger, the local Silver Lake newspaper.)

The Silver Lake administration and Board of Education recently made a decision that has created quite a stir among educators, community members and parents.

With the impending retirement of Joann Wolf, grade school librarian/media specialist, Superintendent Dr. Randy Freeman recommended, and the BOE agreed, the vacancy created would not be filled. Instead, Dr. Freeman suggested Mary LaMar, junior high and high school librarian/media specialist, would oversee both the grade school and high school libraries next year.

Freeman said LaMar would rotate between the two school libraries with a full-time paraprofessional at each library, both under LaMar's supervision. The paras would oversee the libraries when LaMar was at the other building.

LaMar said she first heard about this arrangement after administrators had already made the decision. Dr. Freeman met with her on March 23; however, he said the school board had addressed the issue in executive session at the January, February and March school board meetings.

"During those few months, not one time, not once, did an administrator or board member ask me what the impact of this job cut would cause our students or our staff," she said.

On April 8, it was standing room only as LaMar addressed the school board during their monthly meeting.

LaMar said, "The state Department of Education clearly states it is proper for paraprofessionals to assist licensed educators, but it is not proper for paraprofessionals to deliver instruction.

"How do you justify this to overburdened taxpayers that, yes, we have a beautiful building, but we do not find it important enough to staff the library/media center with a certified librarian 100 percent of the day?"

Sam Grant, BOE president, responded that the decision was based on numbers.

"It was, as a matter of fact, a budget issue...because of cuts that are inevitable this year, it was a decision that we thought was sound financially because we could regain some revenue without laying anybody off. It obviously isn't a popular decision. Joann's retirement happened to be timely," he said.

In a recent letter to his staff, Freeman said this "budget crisis is real."

"Please remember that our Board and administration are under a tremendous amount of pressure as well with the fact that we will have to reduce our budget by at least $86,000 for next fiscal year," he said in the letter.

He later said the board would rather create two jobs than to cut teaching positions. He said in the state of Kansas, it is not a requirement to have a librarian in the schools. It is just necessary to have library services.

He said several small schools in Kansas are not replacing librarians as they retire because of budget issues.

Unified School District 329 Superintendent Phil Mahan said the district chose not to replace the librarian at Wabaunsee High School when she resigned because the district faced nearly $70,000 in budget cuts.

Freeman said this is only the beginning of the cuts.

"As I see it, no one has lost a job, Mrs. Wolf retired, and rather than lay off or ask someone to retire early, we are trying to be pro-active with the budget. This will also create two new jobs while keeping all of our current personnel," Freeman said.

At the board meeting, Wolf provided an open letter she had prepared, while several teachers and community members voiced their concern about the decision.

In her letter, Wolf stated, "In the likelihood of budget cuts, perhaps we could expect a school district with lower academic standards to make an administrative decision like this, but not a district such as ours that has received the status of academic excellence. Without a doubt, the decision to cut a position will compromise the services of both libraries."

LaMar said she agrees that budget cuts will need to be made, and she supports those cuts if they do not compromise the education of students in the district.

"This plan may be budget-friendly but in no way is it educationally sound," LaMar said.

Gail Naylor, high school English teacher and debate and forensics coach, agreed.

"Mary is invaluable to educators, especially in the language arts and communication curriculums. Currently, Mary teaches a unit in how to do on-line research through the KanEd Portal and gives students tours and guidance to locate speech topics and specific research for speeches and compositions.

"She is constantly searching out articles in magazines and newspapers for new and trendy topics for the vertical file and for forensicators to use. As a professional support to educators, she also directs new and progressive research and instructional techniques," Naylor said.

Wolf said her responsibilities at the grade school include teaching retelling, sequencing and predicting skills with first- and second-graders; helping fourth-graders use guidewords, charts, time lines, and cross-referencing in their math/literature unit; and teaching a cyber safety unit to fifth- and sixth-graders.

Randy Matzke, school board member, was already questioning the board's decision during the April 8 meeting.

"I feel like maybe my decision was made in haste. I'll be the first to admit...I didn't have an appreciation and probably still don't truly have an appreciation for what you do, Mary, or what Joann did. I've been educated somewhat in the past 24 hours...

"As Sam mentioned, I think it was a timing thing...we discussed the idea that it had worked in other districts and other states. It made sense to us. But again, from my personal perspective, it was based on, 'I don’t really understand what goes into this job or into these two buildings,' understanding that the jobs are probably significantly different between the two buildings.

"I guess I would like for the board to have additional discussion on this topic and make sure that we are making the right decision. Admittedly, we have not extensively researched other potential budgetary cuts across the board," Matzke said.

Matzke is not the only one who has been influenced by the outpouring of concern from the community and educators. Dr. Freeman met with LaMar and Wolf on April 13 to discuss other options.

In Freeman's letter to his staff, he stated, "...we are working on some solutions that might help the district save some money and, at the same time, meet the objectives of our library media program."

However, LaMar said, as of now, the decision stands for her to oversee both libraries next year. The school board may address the issue at its next meeting, May 13.

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