Teachers, librarians and community speakers urge board to avoid cuts to lowest‑paid staff and press for repairs at Dunbar

A string of public commenters told the Fayette County Board of Education March 26 they oppose proposed reductions to the work calendar for lowest‑paid employees and urged prompt fixes to chronic building maintenance problems.

State Representative Adrielle Camille, who also identified herself as a Fayette County hourly employee, said community members told her a possible five‑day cut for 12‑month classified hourly staff had been proposed as one option to close an anticipated budget shortfall. Camille warned the cut would reduce annual pay and pension accruals for affected workers, and she walked the board through a numerical example, saying that for a hypothetical employee the loss would amount to about "$2,333.60." She added, "These cuts are coming at a time when affordability is the issue," and asked the board to avoid actions that would further strain low‑paid staff and librarians.

Multiple school staff amplified that concern. Catherine Blair, a special‑education paraeducator, said custodians, food‑service staff and paraeducators are essential and that reducing their hours would harm retention and school operations. Amanda Hurley, Henry Clay High School’s high‑school librarian, told the board school librarians perform instructional work and appealed to members to reject any reduction to the 206‑day librarian calendar.

Lindsay Devonbrock and other library advocates framed the issue historically and pedagogically, arguing that librarians’ extended days are instructional, not administrative, time, and that cutting library days would degrade collection management, co‑teaching capacity and students’ access to vetted information.

A teacher from Paul Laurence Dunbar documented extensive maintenance problems at that campus and called them a safety concern: she described recurring plumbing failures, frequent mice, ceiling leaks and a recent smoke incident in which fire alarms did not sound. The teacher said maintenance requests since October 2023 numbered in the thousands (she reported 1,305 building requests and a large share related to plumbing and HVAC) and asked the board to prioritize repairs.

Several commenters, including union representatives, urged the board and administration to identify alternatives to reductions in paydays and to pursue other savings before cutting staff calendars. A public commenter, Matthew Veed, questioned district financial communications and said the board must prepare the community for painful cuts if the underlying budget issues are not resolved.

District staff responded briefly: a district representative clarified there are "no final recommendations or decisions" on the next year’s budget at this time, and the superintendent and board did not adopt staff‑calendar changes during the meeting.