Garfield board approves position controls; public raises concerns about literacy supports

The Garfield Public School District board on April 28 approved a slate of position controls and job descriptions intended to reorganize some administrative roles while preserving the district's current budget lines.

Superintendent Dr. Tomko said the items on the agenda are “not additional positions” but rather “additional position controls, which means that the board has the ability to fill them if it wants.” He told the board the changes are meant to clarify job descriptions, allow programmatic directors to coordinate with principals, and support articulation between elementary and secondary programs for the 2025–26 school year.

Why it matters: The changes affect how the district may advertise and fill leadership roles and how responsibilities are distributed among curriculum, special services and emerging program areas such as MTSS (multi-tiered systems of support). Members of the public argued the district should use its hiring and spending priorities to expand direct classroom interventions — especially phonics and literacy supports — rather than create new administrative layers.

During public comment, resident Arlene Catieri criticized what she described as a proliferation of director-level postings and asked how the moves would affect classroom instruction and district savings. “I don't see one thing on this agenda that referred to anything like Wilson reading,” Catieri said.

Former federal programs supervisor Jerry Ledford spoke in favor of preserving and expanding targeted reading instruction. “The Wilson Reading Program was put together and brought to Garfield by Doctor Frank Roscoe and I,” Ledford said, and he urged the board to use available federal funds for teacher training: “Title 2 pays for it.”

Board and administration response: District leaders said the packets before the board are position controls and job descriptions — not immediate hires — and said the changes were discussed over many months. A district official told the meeting that the district already has a train-the-trainer structure for Wilson and related MTSS work and that some described roles would consolidate existing duties rather than add new lines.

What was approved: The board voted, by roll call, to approve personnel items listed as agenda items 7.1 through 7.18. The board president called the motion, it was moved and seconded, and the roll call concluded “Motion carries.” The district indicated that any posting or hiring tied to these controls will be considered after the board’s reorganizational procedures.

Context and next steps: Speakers at the meeting repeatedly asked for clarity about returns on investment — how hiring or title changes will translate into classroom instruction, phonics and math supports, and for explicit plans to use federal and state grants where eligible. The superintendent invited board members and community members to discuss position reconfiguration further as the new board and committees take shape this spring.

Ending: Board members said the personnel controls are intended to allow the district flexibility when positions become available, while public commenters pressed for guarantees that instructional interventions such as Wilson training and targeted literacy supports remain a district priority.