Parents and staff urge board to preserve library paraprofessionals and daily nursing coverage

Several parents, volunteer leaders and school staff used the board’s 30‑minute public comment period to press the district on proposed staffing cuts and device safety.

Media specialists and volunteers said the proposed budget would eliminate library media paraprofessionals at elementary schools. Tina Jones, a media specialist with 29 years in the district, told trustees that parapros do far more than check out books — repairing and processing books, running reading incentive programs and providing daily supervision and individualized support. "There is a plan to eliminate all media paraprofessionals in the upcoming budget," she said, asking the board to "please find the cut somewhere else." A parent volunteer said removing parapros would shift duties onto already overextended media specialists and reduce students’ access to library services.

A parent and intensive‑care nurse described cuts to nursing staff, saying five nurse positions were removed and that nurses would fall from 13 to eight districtwide, covering 23 schools and more than 16,000 students. She described the daily medical needs nurses manage — insulin dosing, seizure response and medication administration — and cited a state recommendation of a 1:750 nurse‑to‑student ratio while saying the district now faces a ratio near 1:2,000. "We cannot continue to require the office staff to be all things... Our children deserve trained medical staff daily to keep them safe," she said.

Another parent, speaking about school-issued devices, said she opened her first‑grader’s tablet and found recommended YouTube thumbnails that were pornographic and search results that included instructions about guns. She said district staff told her the problem appeared systemwide and that school internet would likely block the videos going forward, but that parents would be responsible for additional home filtering. She offered to share screenshots with administrators and asked for a swift correction so young children are not exposed to inappropriate content.

Board members listened but did not respond during public comment. Administration representatives said the district would follow up individually with commenters, continue to monitor custodial and technology systems, and review work‑order and performance reports for contracted services. The staffing cuts referenced by commenters were discussed later in the meeting in the context of broader budget reductions and the voluntary severance plan approved by the board.