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Special-education staff urges board to address unpaid work, overloaded caseloads
Summary
At a South Whidbey School District board meeting, elementary staff member Kelsey Beard alleged unpaid required work and an overloaded special-education caseload, said administrators moved four students without her input, and asked to rescind a resignation she said was recorded as immediately effective.
Kelsey Beard told the South Whidbey School District board that she has been left with an "overloaded schedule" and unpaid work after the start of the school year, and asked the board to allow her to rescind what she said was recorded as an immediate resignation.
"I was required to complete my evaluation during my unpaid time," Beard said in public comment. She described being directed to attend a required response activity and not being paid, being given new students without additional support, and losing roughly 22.5 parapro hours per week to general-education supervision. "This left me very concerned," she said, adding that her resulting workload left her and her staff unable to meet students' changing needs or honor IEPs.
Beard said a transfer student with significant support needs was added to her caseload on Aug. 19 with no additional program support and that the decision to shift four resource-level students off her caseload was made "without me present or represented." She said she had asked for an audience with administrators on Aug. 28, was told they needed 24 hours to respond, and that no substantive follow-up occurred before she left work in distress.
Beard also said she had communicated repeatedly about time-sheet and pay issues and that she had not been paid for work she was told to perform. She said she had intended to "rescind my resignation" but was told by administration that it had been made effective immediately.
The board did not take formal action during the meeting on Beard's request. Chair recognized the comment and other trustees thanked Beard and the students for their remarks later in the meeting; no recorded motion or administrative response addressing Beard's specific requests appears in the meeting record.
The district's meeting sequence shows the public-comment period concluded before new-business votes and reports. The board's next steps are not recorded in the meeting transcript; Beard's account indicates she expects further administrative follow-up outside the public comment period.
