Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Staffing And Public Comment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Union president warns cuts to intervention staff as community voices back CTE trades building
Summary
Public commenters urged the board to support a proposed trades building and warned that proposed cuts to intervention staff — including multilingual educators and reading specialists — will harm high‑needs students; the superintendent responded with staffing context.
Several public commenters used the board’s public‑comment period to press the district on both facilities and staffing. John Gerard, a local homebuilder who runs a nonprofit called Careers in Construction, urged support for the trades building on the agenda and offered employer partnerships for CTE programming.
"You cannot do that in your current facilities... You really do need this trades building to get the right training in place," Gerard said, adding his organization runs a hiring fair and works with local apprenticeship shops.
Mary Mendoza Hansel, president of the Battle Ground Education Association, focused her comments on personnel: she said district leaders are removing six multilingual educators, two reading specialists and a credit‑recovery teacher, calling those roles "lifelines" for vulnerable students and urging the board to reconsider cuts. "How are students expected to reach mastery without consistent interventionists who could help them get there?" she asked.
Superintendent Shelley responded later in the meeting while discussing the personnel report, saying that several recent departures were not RIFs and that the district intends to rework administrative responsibilities and fill a number of critical positions. "We will pay more in missteps than we will in keeping the lights on," she said, describing plans to reallocate and replace roles as needed.
Board members acknowledged the tension between tight budgets following levy failures and the district’s programming needs. Several directors said they remain committed to finding ways to support teaching and learning while managing constrained resources.
What’s next: union concerns and supervisor statements were recorded in the meeting minutes; the superintendent and human resources team will return with staffing plans and any proposed personnel decisions.
