RSD board agrees on replacement of school librarians

Special meeting held after $400,000 found in revised budget

ROYAL CITY — Emotions ran high during a special school board meeting late Friday afternoon, as concerned community members spoke out on the importance of the librarians in their district.

About 50 teachers, parents and community members gathered in the Royal High School library and, over the course of two hours, spoke to members of the Royal School District about the librarian positions at Royal High School and Red Rock Elementary School.

Those positions opened at the beginning of the summer, when the high school and elementary school librarians both retired at the end of last school year.

The school board had made the decision to fill the positions, previously held by certified teachers, with classified workers in response to a budget forecast that did not take into account $400,000 coming to the district from the state, with $112,000 in appropriations that typically become available in August.

It was the board's estimation that, under the budget without the $400,000, $80,000 could be saved by hiring classified workers rather than certified teachers to fill the positions.

School district superintendent David James said he called the special meeting after discovering the state money, which he said had not been taken into account by the school district's new business manager, so that the board could revisit the decision and let the community know what was going on, and that was the first time all five board members could be in attendance and still give a required 24-hour notice to the local media.

Prior to the board meeting, teachers participated in a tailgate party in the high school's parking lot for the Royal Education Association.

"We're here just to let people know that we're working without a contract and that we support hiring certified librarians in the librarian positions, and that we have the support of our association behind us," explained Veronica Barrett, president of REA, one of two teachers' unions involved in contract discussions with the school district.

Contracts have not yet been signed.

"We had a meeting on Monday, and our association decided that they did not want to settle, and they did not want to accept what was there," Barrett said before the board meeting. She explained that the association was offered a final settlement that the REA bargaining team was not comfortable with; the association elected not to settle in favor of more aggressive actions.

"We're working to the contract, which means we're still working to last year's contract, and we're not putting in any extras," Barrett said. "We're working the time that we are contracted for, and nothing more."

That delays Royal School District open houses, and affects the fact that the small community's teachers often wear multiple hats, she added.

"They put in a lot of extra time which is their own," she said. "We do it because we care about kids, and this is just, we have to start thinking about us. We still care about kids, but we also need the district to recognize that time is invaluable."

Over the course of two and a half hours, the audience addressed the board members and, often passionately, expressed their opinions about the need for certified librarians.

Concerns voiced during the meeting included annual budget decreases, unchanging school levies to meet the school's financial needs and the ability of a certified librarian to accurately assist school staff in making educated reading recommendations for students and for classes, as well as raising Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) test scores.

An audience member made the analogy that he wouldn't take his car to a musician.

"There are other things to argue about," one audience member declared.

"By making this decision, you are belittling what we are, and what it takes for us to be a teacher," said another, of the board's decision to hire classified workers to fill the librarian positions.

At the meeting's conclusion, after much discussion between members of the board and members of the audience, the board voted unanimously to hire certified librarians for the available positions as soon as possible. An executive committee consisting of two board members and REA executives will meet today to begin that process and have certified substitutes in place for the meantime.

"This is the outcome we were hoping for," Barrett said. "We have maintained that it was important to us that we had certified librarians throughout the bargaining process, and we are happy to see that the district and the board have done the right thing."

Barrett said it was tough to say how the decision will impact contract discussions.

"Certainly we feel really good right now and, you know, things change quickly," she said. "But the momentum going is going to be even greater, and just the attitude and the motivation to continue is boosted and supported by this."

James called the decision a great one.

"Very well thought out, and I think we're ready to move," he said.

Sharon Chesterman, who retired from the position of librarian at the elementary school after 34 years with the school district, said that the decision should have been made before school let out, when she announced her retirement.

"I don't see how you can run a business as big as this, and in this day and age, run it for the same amount of money, because the only way you can go is backwards," she said. "There's inflation, if nothing else, and we've got kids that have different needs."

Chesterman said that patrons and parents of the school district need to know what is going on, and need to be a part of the decision.

"I want (them) to get involved and to ask some questions, and I want a levy to pass because education is the most important thing," she said. "Children are the future, we have to educate children, and we have a big job of educating parents too."

Board member Craig Janett said that he's concerned about the school district's finances, and the fact that the budget continues to drop by about $300,000 a year, which "is significant, but we've got to look at cost and benefit, and I feel good about the outcome that was reached. With a revision to the forecasted budget, it is probably economically justifiable to go ahead and hire for that position."

Janett said he still didn't think it was made entirely clear to him at the meeting whether or not there were people available to fill the position that were not certified teachers, and whether or not that would be acceptable.

"I would like to see just the best possible person in that position, and wouldn't want to limit it to just certified people, but I don't think we're going to find it without a certified person," he said. "My biggest concern is not whether we hire a person with a certificate or not, but whether or not we hire the best possible person for that position."

"I'm so excited that they're deciding to get a certificated person there," said a visibly emotional Amanda Eilers, eighth-grade language arts teacher, after the decision. "It gives me confidence that they support what I do and they understand that I need somebody in here to support and to help educate me, as well as to get those kids that are at a frustration level. We need to get them passing the WASL and getting them reading, and it really concerns me that they were even considering putting a classified person in here."