Teachers, parents and staff urge board to protect classrooms as district faces cuts

Public commenters at the Volusia County School Board meeting on a Tuesday in April pressed the board to limit cuts to classroom and student-support positions after district staff outlined an ongoing budget shortfall and recent reductions.

The most urgent complaints focused on instructional staffing: speakers said the district faces a roughly $25,000,000 shortfall and that Volusia Virtual (also called Volusia Online Learning) lost 12 positions this week and more than 50 positions over three years. Teacher and parent speakers said larger class sizes, reduced advanced-program offerings and fewer counselors threaten students’ learning and well-being.

Why it matters: public commentators and several board members said cuts to front-line staff — classroom teachers, guidance counselors and specialized virtual instructors — directly affect student outcomes, graduation pathways and families’ decisions to keep children in district schools.

Multiple speakers described recent or proposed reductions and their consequences. Elizabeth Albert, a former 22-year VCS employee, said cutting instructional allocations leads to larger classes and program cuts and urged restoring “instructional allocations to create optimal teaching and learning environments.”

Teacher Karen Weinrich said teachers already face instability after the district displaced 284 teachers last year and, now, a new shortfall. “How long will we sacrifice the quality of education for shortsighted financial decisions?” she asked.

Volusia Virtual staff and supporters described specific impacts. Mariana Bianco, a mathematics teacher at Volusia Virtual, said her school serves diverse students including hospital/homebound and special-program students and reported teaching nearly 400 students across 11 courses this year. “Without sufficient teachers, we will struggle to support our students effectively,” she said. Yvette Lescano, who has worked with Volusia Online Learning for 18 years, said the program lost more than 50 teachers in three years and warned that continued cuts would push students to outside providers, diverting funds from the district.

Speakers also raised concerns about counseling and ESE services. Michelle Deibler, speaking for a longtime district counselor, said elementary counseling allocations were cut to one counselor per school next year at seven elementary schools and cited the American School Counselor Association’s 250-to-1 recommended ratio in arguing the move would harm students’ social-emotional development. Another commenter noted a proposed cut or reorganization of IEP facilitators from 20 to 5, saying centralized assignments could reduce service quality for ESE students.

Board members discussed the complexity of budgeting and district-level responsibilities. Vice Chair Ruben Colon (as presented at the meeting) and other board members repeatedly emphasized that operational staffing and program decisions are implemented by the superintendent and staff, while the board sets policy and approves budgets. Superintendent Carmen Balgobin and staff said they are working through district-wide “resizing” actions and have already implemented district-level adjustments in recent budget cycles.

Public commenters and at least one board member called for greater transparency about district administrative staffing and for prioritizing funds that directly support classrooms. Several commenters asked the district to compare its internal operations and staffing with similar-sized districts and to consider programmatic options — for example, creating magnet or specialty programs to boost enrollment at underutilized schools.

Votes at a glance: the meeting included several formal votes. The board approved the minutes (Item 1.03) by voice vote; approved the meeting agenda (Item 2.01) by voice vote; approved the consent agenda, which included conveying surplus property to the DeLand Police Athletic League (Item 15.03), by voice vote; and voted 4–1 to grant authority to advertise proposed School Board Policy 5.28 (religious expression) (see separate article). The minutes and consent agenda votes passed unanimously.

What’s next: speakers urged the board and superintendent to protect instructional positions and student supports as the district develops a final budget. Several urged parents to contact state legislators about proposed state-level changes the board cannot control that could affect program funding.

Ending: multiple commenters framed their appeals as concrete requests: restore or protect instructional allocations, reverse or rethink counselor reductions, preserve Volusia Virtual capacity for special populations and publish clearer organizational and financial details so the public can evaluate trade-offs.