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Librarians, counselors and volunteers urge Pleasanton board not to cut library and counseling services
Summary
Multiple staff and volunteers urged the Pleasanton Unified board to remove libraries and counseling from any cut lists, citing high usage, equity and rising mental‑health needs; the Budget Advisory Committee recorded these as high‑impact items to be evaluated further.
Several school staff and volunteers urged the board to protect library and counseling services while the district works to balance its budget.
Alisa Haggerty, Pleasanton Middle School librarian, read remarks for Amy Atkins Patton and said libraries provide vital academic, technological and social‑emotional supports for all students and are often the only place where students have equal access to books and technology. "Cutting library staff may provide short term financial relief, but it overlooks the long term benefits libraries provide, including improved academic achievement and fostering lifelong learning," she said.
Aaron Haycraft, a volunteer who works at multiple middle schools, described full libraries at lunch and said sharing librarians across campuses or cutting hours would be "catastrophic" for students who depend on libraries as safe spaces and homework supports. Steven Corbulis, Library Media Assistant at Harvest Park Middle School, provided circulation and patron metrics and said sharing librarians would score as a "significant impact" on student learning and well‑being.
Trustees and BAC members acknowledged library concerns are among the options generated by committee brainstorming; Kathy Naram, BAC chair, emphasized the list of 19 ideas is uncosted and will be prioritized against metrics including student impact and equity. Trustees also heard counseling staff describe rising caseloads and requested the district reevaluate cuts to counseling in light of student mental‑health needs. Madeline Lee, a middle‑school counselor, said cuts last year increased counselor workloads and asked the board to review those reductions before final decisions.
Staff told the board that ideas like sharing librarians were only that—ideas to be vetted—and that some program changes may not be implementable because of funding restrictions. The district said it will include program‑level impact analysis in its January and February board materials and that the BAC and staff will continue to gather input from site staff and community members.
"I would like to see the libraries off any further list of cuts," Haggerty said. "I love my library. I love all of our libraries, and I love working for this district very much."
