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Parents and staff urge Tacoma schools to restore Montessori assistants and peer‑inclusion preschool
Summary
Dozens of public commenters — including students, paraeducators and parents from Geiger Montessori — pleaded with the board to reverse cuts to Montessori assistants and inclusive preschool settings, saying the changes would undermine the Montessori model and student supports.
A large group of parents, paraeducators, teachers and students used the meeting’s public comment period to urge the Tacoma School District board to reverse recent workforce reductions affecting Montessori classrooms and peer‑inclusion preschool programs.
“Please do not cut our assistants. We need them,” said second grader Etta Franklin during public comment; several other students and parents read letters and spoke directly to trustees about the role classroom assistants play in Montessori classrooms.
Multiple speakers described Montessori as a staffing‑intensive method that relies on two adults in the room. “Montessori education depends on having a full teaching team,” said Michelle Austin, PTA president at Geiger, citing nine Montessori assistants lost at Geiger and a closed transitional kindergarten class. Liz Walley, a paraeducator, addressed board remarks about staffing decisions: “So you sign off on each of these devastating cuts. The people who elected you deserve better than the constant rubber stamping that we're getting from the board.”
Several special‑education parents and staff also warned against planned changes to early childhood peer‑inclusion programming. A school psychologist on the district’s preschool team said the district planned to eliminate inclusive preschool and reduce hours from 10 weekly hours to 3 hours of a playgroup format; she said that parents had not been surveyed and that district data do not show families requesting shorter programs.
Speakers described direct classroom effects: paraeducators and building ESPs who de‑escalate behavioral incidents, supervise lunch and recess, support individual students with IEPs or 504 plans and deliver one‑on‑one instruction. “When children decide to leave the classroom, another adult is able to stay with the child keeping them safe. Safety is priority,” one parent said, recounting instances where an ESP de‑escalated a scissors‑throwing incident.
Board members listened and thanked speakers. Trustees reiterated they will continue to examine budget options, placement plans and future opportunities to preserve positions; they reiterated the district’s stated commitment to maintaining its two public Montessori programs but did not announce reversals or immediate restorations.
Speakers who identified themselves by role included Montessori parents, paraeducators, a school psychologist, an ESP who described classroom work and multiple students who read letters. Many asked the board to reconsider cuts they said would make Montessori “in name only” if assistants are not restored.
