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Residents and teachers urge St. Francis board to protect libraries and add EL staff
Summary
Community speakers pressed the St. Francis Area Schools board to preserve school libraries and to hire an additional elementary English-learner teacher; administration said the personnel request has been added to a cabinet-level list for consideration.
Community members used the public-comment period at Monday—s St. Francis Area Schools board meeting to press officials to preserve school libraries and to expand support for English-learner students.
Nikki Cruzdie told the board that school libraries and skills such as cursive instruction have enduring academic value. "If something is underutilized, our obligation is to strengthen it, not erase it," Cruzdie said, adding that elected members who promote defunding or censorship "have no place on our school board." Her remarks framed libraries as a bulwark for equal access to information.
Beth Kineman, an elementary English-learner teacher, presented enrollment figures she said show rapid growth in EL students and large caseloads. Kineman said Saint Francis Elementary—s EL population had grown from 18 to 28 (a 55% increase) and that her own caseload is 67 students while a colleague, Tammy O'Donovan, carries 49. "If the district hired one more full-time teacher, it would be possible for students at all buildings to receive 30 minutes three to four times a week," Kineman said, arguing that additional staff would speed students— progress and improve access to conferences and site-based work.
An administrator responded to Kineman that the request has been added to the district—s personnel request list and is under cabinet review; the administration said it had begun discussing the request that day but had not yet produced a recommendation.
Parent and community member Brian Pueblo urged the board to invest in libraries as modern learning spaces, asking for updated, diversified collections and certified media specialists to support information-literacy instruction. "Libraries need to be fully staffed with media professionals," Pueblo said, linking staffing to students' research and critical-evaluation skills.
The board thanked speakers for their comments and acknowledged they would be taken into consideration alongside budget and district guidelines.
