Public comment at the Judson ISD Board of Trustees meeting featured repeated appeals to preserve school librarians and district Curriculum & Instruction positions amid budget-reduction discussions.

Several CNI coordinators described daily and year-round duties the board would lose if positions were reduced or shifted to fewer contract days. September Patterson, a district curriculum staff member, said her four-person team splits district responsibilities across 20 elementary campuses, providing weekly campus visits, modeling lessons, data analysis, unit launches, and small-group tutoring. She told trustees the team’s salaries are currently funded 50% locally and 50% through Title II and warned that moving staff into full classroom roles would remove ongoing campus-level support.

Jamie Sells, the elementary science coordinator for 20 campuses, and Summer Terrell, a secondary math coordinator, described coaching, unit planning, tutoring and summer planning work that they said would not be replicated by brief summer-only curriculum-writing sessions. Carmelina Libby and other CNI staff stressed that coordinators serve hundreds of teachers and thousands of students by writing curriculum materials, conducting data analysis and providing professional development.

Multiple speakers asked the board to preserve full-time certified librarians. Laura Rahm and Veterans Memorial students and staff described librarians’ roles in promoting literacy, managing makerspaces, running book clubs, helping students with research and technology, and writing grants. Student speakers described improved reading outcomes tied to library access. Several parents and teachers warned that removing full-time librarians would disproportionately harm underserved students and lower reading achievement.

Speakers also raised budget-clarity questions. A public commenter and a district staff speaker said some positions previously funded with COVID-era ESSER grants were later shifted onto local funds; Cynthia Shoemaker and others asked the board to review which positions had been moved to local funding and to consider categorical funding rules before cutting staff. Cynthia Shoemaker said changes to ESSER-funded positions that were later absorbed by local funds are a substantial contributor to the district’s current deficit.

Board members responded by asking for more detailed staffing, funding-source and historical data. Several trustees requested a report comparing pre-ESSER staffing and funding to current payroll allocations and asked the administration to provide justification for positions that were retained on local funds after ESSER ended.