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Parents and teachers urge Galt Joint Union Elementary board to hire, not rotate, PE and music staff
Summary
Multiple parents and teachers told the school board that a proposed plan to split PE and music staff across sites would harm student safety, routines and extracurricular programs, urging immediate hiring to backfill a retiring middle‑school position.
Multiple parents, teachers and staff urged the Galt Joint Union Elementary School District board on the public‑comment portion of its meeting to avoid rotating specialist teachers across campuses and to hire a replacement for a retiring middle‑school teacher.
At the meeting, Malia Anderson, identified as the PTKC president at Marengo Ranch, said she was "concerned about mister Jumper's full time schedule being split into two at two different sites," and warned that splitting his time would remove programs he runs, including a long‑running running club and Friday sings. "It will affect our school pretty much," Anderson said.
Christie Bridal, a Valley Oaks teacher of more than 30 years, described why stable specialist staffing matters: "Our PE teacher…knows every student in that school by name," Bridal said, adding that consistent specialists reduce playground problems and free classroom teachers to teach. "The best solution is to just replace the teacher," she said, arguing against a model in which roving substitutes would cover multiple elementary schools.
Gailene Gomez, who works in special education, recounted a five‑year relationship with a nonverbal student who has made progress because of the stable support of a specialist. "That's not going to continue if we see the schedule piece parted together with different teachers servicing different sites," she warned.
Ariana Aguilera, a district music teacher since 2003, told the board the proposed schedule would expand her workload beyond sustainable levels and risk instructional quality. "I already work minimum 45 hours a week," Aguilera said; she asked the board to consider her historical schedules and the additional prep required for multiple ensembles and production classes.
Several other commenters, including parent Veronica Kaufman and Tracy Watts, urged the board to post and fill openings immediately so elementary specialists can remain at their sites. Kaufman asked the board at the end of the meeting to put "a presentation on all PE and music teacher schedules for the 2026–27 school year" on a future agenda and to state each member's position on rotating specialist teachers.
The board did not take formal action on staffing during the meeting; public commenters repeatedly requested that cabinet post openings and consider direct hiring rather than redistributing existing staff.
The district’s personnel decisions could affect extracurriculars, special‑education supports and health‑safety responses that parents and teachers said rely on consistent adult relationships.
The board is scheduled to return to policy and staffing items at future meetings; callers asked for a specific agenda item and a vote on whether rotating specialist positions should be approved.
