Hampshire County Board hears pleas to save school support roles as district readjusts staffing

The Hampshire County Board of Education on March 16 heard multiple personnel hearings and a long administrative presentation explaining why the district must realign staff for the 2026–27 school year amid declining enrollment and uncertain grant funding.

Board President Ed Morgan opened the meeting and identified employees who were the subject of hearings. An administration representative told the board that several extracurricular and grant‑funded positions — described as professional support personnel (PSPs) and some secretary roles — are being terminated or placed on transfer lists because the district cannot assume continued grant funding for 2026–27.

Karen Corbin, a professional support staff member at Capenbridge Elementary, told the board PSPs reinforce classroom instruction, provide small‑group tutoring and social‑emotional support, and act as liaisons connecting students to counselors and after‑school tutoring. "PSPs are an integral part of CBE," Corbin said, adding that without that reinforcement "students are unable to meet success." She urged administrators and the board to use creativity when distributing federal and state funds so those supports can continue.

Holly Davis, a Hampshire High School secretary who said she staffs the downstairs front window, described the role as the campus’s primary safety checkpoint. "The downstairs window is probably the most important entry to the campus, for the safety of our students," Davis said, describing daily duties that include checking IDs, processing sign‑ins and sign‑outs and tracking attendance throughout the day. A colleague, introduced to the board as Mister Stewart, said the high school’s complexity — on‑site career and technical education programs, evening events and athletics — makes the front‑desk position essential and argued those duties cannot feasibly be absorbed by the remaining secretaries.

Administration officials told the board how the realignment process works: they review October 1 enrollment data, apply staffing formulas, identify grant‑funded roles and then distribute notices under a timeline set by law and district procedure. The administration reported long‑term staffing numbers and said the packet of proposed cuts would yield just under $1,000,000 in savings; at the same time a separate figure of about $1.6 million shortfall was discussed in the meeting as the county’s current estimated funding gap. The personnel director emphasized the emotional difficulty of the process and the legal steps taken to follow seniority and transfer rules.

Board members asked clarifying questions about how positions are posted and whether some employees who are placed on transfer lists may later be reassigned to posted positions. The administration said some employees who bid into newly posted jobs would bypass reductions.

The board moved into and returned from an executive session for personnel matters; when it reconvened publicly it reported that no decisions had been made in closed session. Several personnel consent items (transfers, contract renewals, terminations and postings) were read during the regular agenda and approved by voice vote as part of the consent and non‑consent agenda sections. The board also approved a motion appointing Kathy Jeffreys to the audit committee and approved other routine items that will affect how the district posts jobs and implements the 2026–27 staffing plan.

What happens next: the administration will post vacancies, accept bids and reassign staff according to the board‑approved list and applicable seniority rules; the board’s approvals on personnel consent items mean some reductions and reassignments will move forward, but individual outcomes for many employees remain contingent on later postings and hires.

Note: numbers reported in the meeting were given orally and at times inconsistently; the administration described estimated savings of just under $1,000,000 from the proposed cuts and discussed a district funding shortfall reported in the meeting as about $1.6 million.