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Teachers and parents urge Pacifica trustees to spare IBL assistant principals amid proposed cuts
Summary
During public comment on item 12j, teachers, parents and staff pleaded with the board to preserve assistant principal positions and counseling supports at Ingrid B. Lacey Middle School after the district listed certificated reductions; HR later said one AP FTE was removed from the reduction list and described proposed supports for IBL.
More than a dozen teachers, parents and staff told the Pacifica School District board on March 11 that proposed reductions to certificated employees would harm student safety, special-education compliance and daily operations at Ingrid B. Lacey Middle School (IBL).
"We need to keep all of our administrators and counselors to function at the bare minimum," said Margaret Twomey, a sixth-grade teacher at IBL who spoke during the public-comment period. Teachers described frequent student crises during a single school day and said administrators are the adults who handle emergency responses, IEP meetings and discipline so classrooms can continue.
IBL staff and parents cited enrollment and special-education statistics to support their case: speakers said IBL serves roughly 640'660 students and highlighted that the campus has among the district's highest shares of students with IEPs and 504 plans. "If 1 of the APs are eliminated, it will have a negative impact on IBL and will affect safety and compliance," said parent Amy Swanson.
Several speakers raised equity concerns about specific personnel moves. One commenter noted that moving the only Latino male administrator on campus into a counselor role would reduce representation in school leadership; the transcript records that concern as part of public remarks.
After public comment, Rachel Romo, interim director of human resources, said the district had re-evaluated staffing plans since posting the agenda and removed one assistant-principal FTE from the list of particular kinds of services identified for reduction. Romo described the district's proposed supports for IBL next year: "a principal, 1 assistant principal, 1 full-time counselor, 1 counselor 2 days a week, a full-time school psychologist, and there are no changes for the office staff," she said.
Speakers urged the board to reconsider cuts in light of the budget presentation earlier in the meeting and to review unspent LCAP funds and other internal allocations before reducing student-facing positions. The board recorded a motion to adopt the intention-to-terminate resolution (agenda item 12j); the transcript records the motion and second but not the recorded vote.
What happens next: The item must meet a March 15 procedural deadline for issuing notices, but Romo said staff will continue to evaluate and reconfigure positions up to a May finalization if circumstances change.
