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Board hears sharply divided views on instructional coaches as budget options
Summary
Board members and staff debated whether to retain about 30 district-funded instructional coaches—positions the district says cost roughly $4 million—after the failed referendum; some board members called for evaluations and redeployment, while others said coaches are essential to instruction and should be preserved.
Kenosha Unified School District board members debated the role and cost of instructional coaches during a budget-focused meeting on March 25, with some trustees urging cuts or reassignment and others defending the positions as key to improving classroom practice.
Board member Bob Tunney said cutting instructional coaches and moving them into classrooms would yield major savings. “The value what we're spending on instructional coaches is gonna be somewhere in the ballpark of $4,000,000,” he said during the session, and suggested redeploying coaches into teaching roles as a straightforward way to reduce expenses.
Staff and other board members pushed back. Miss Bridal described coaches’ day-to-day work: “Coaches work with teachers to implement tier 1 instruction and do a multitude of other things related to curriculum, assessment and instruction. They are the one-to-one with teachers. When I as a teacher want to improve my instructional practice, I am coached by my coach then.” Dr. Weiss cautioned that eliminating coaching duties could increase principals’ workloads and risk gaps in academic and behavioral supports.
Board members acknowledged variation across schools. Trustees said some instructional coaches perform administrative or non-instructional tasks at particular sites; several called for a formal evaluation process. Board member Christine Schmeling asked how the district measures coaches’ effectiveness and pointed to salary ranges for coaches under the teacher contract; district staff replied that coaches are in the teacher bargaining group and that pay varies by placement and experience.
District staff said there are approximately 30 district-funded coaches (with additional positions funded through other sources) and that coaches operate at elementary, middle and high schools. Staff described coaches as central to professional learning, assessment administration and curriculum rollouts, including recent adoption work such as decodable reading materials and related professional development.
Several board members asked staff to produce clearer evaluation criteria and data on how instructional coaches affect classroom outcomes as part of the broader budget review. Dr. Weiss said reductions of this magnitude would shift responsibilities to principals and others and could affect academic and behavioral supports across schools.
