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Public commenters urge Lynchburg school board to fund interpreters, band and rethink testing and tech spending
Summary
Parents, students and staff urged the Lynchburg City Schools board to shift budget priorities toward educational interpreters and extracurricular programs, and to reduce spending on redundant testing and excessive classroom screen time.
Alton Quinn, a student representing EC Glass High School’s marching and concert band programs, and several staff and parents told the Lynchburg City Schools board that budget choices threaten extracurriculars and special education services.
"Percussion instruments could be up to $10,000 and... woodwind or a brass instrument... around $1,000," said Quinn, describing broken and decades-old instruments that he said make some ensembles unplayable and drive out-of-pocket costs for families.
Amber Dempsey, lead educational interpreter for Lynchburg City Schools, asked the board to reclassify educational interpreters from the district’s classified PACE schedule grade H to a licensed-related-service pay scale (she suggested administrative pay scale, schedule 5). Dempsey said that interpreters support a 27-year, 100% graduation rate for deaf and hard-of-hearing students, perform roughly 3,600 hours of professional training annually as a team, and that the district lost three interpreters last year to higher-paying districts. "Without them, the environment is functionally inaccessible," Dempsey said, and she cited Code of Federal Regulations Title 34 §300.34(a) in arguing that interpreters are "related service" providers.
Aaron Reed, a 28‑year teaching veteran and representative of the Lynchburg Education Association, told the board to examine recurring expenditures on standardized testing and technology. Reed said some tests take instructional time without yielding useful information and criticized heavy Chromebook use, arguing it contributes to excessive screen time. He suggested reallocating funds from testing and technology vendors to support local programs such as the band and interpreter staffing.
Colleen Larkins, a parent with Save Our Schools, urged greater transparency in the budget so advocates can make more targeted requests to the city council and called for higher pay across school staff, naming teachers, bus drivers and front-office staff.
Board staff read the board’s public comment policy at the start of the hearing, noting comments were limited to budget agenda items and describing registration and time limits. After public comments concluded, the board adjourned the public hearing portion of the meeting.
What happens next: board members did not record a decision on the specific budget requests during the public-comment period; the remarks were presented to inform upcoming budget deliberations and advocacy to the city council.
