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Claim: it's about the budget
Claim: it's about the budget
According to data shared by the district in their own Special Governing Board Meeting: Board Budget Workshop on Thursday, February 6, 2025, there is a healthy reserve available. View video segment from that meeting. Also note, even with declining enrollment, the district's reserve and overall revenue have continued to grow. See more data regarding the budget that has been shared by the Grossmont Education Association @grossmonteducators.
District Spokesperson Collin McGlashen addressed not using the healthy reserve citing, "It's not advisable to use one-time money for long-term structural problems...the district must make hard decisions since it's facing state school budget cuts due to the cost of wildfire damages and declining enrollment...We’re having to look down the road" (source). Regarding using the cost of recent wildfires, as well as previous mentions of immigration, as the reason for cuts, former San Diego City Attorney Mike Aguirre offered: "That is pure speculation. That is not a reason to lay off 61 people" (source). When claims like this are made, Aguirre suggests submitting a California Public Records Act requesting written records documenting the basis for such statements.
If there is truly a budget situation, then why is the district also hiring new administrators and directors? See the counter-claim that has been provided in the section below regarding absenteeism.
Cutting Teacher Librarians does not save that much money. At least 1 new district librarian position (or contracted services) will need to be added/hired. 5 more classified staff members will need to be added/hired plus at least part-time coverage at all 9 sites will need to be added/hired. In addition, experienced (more highly paid) Teacher Librarians will bump brand new teachers (much less paid) from their classroom positions. And, there will be the unassessed but very real expense of lessened and degraded services.
When facing budget situations, other school districts work with employees to explore creative alternative to staff cuts so that students will still have access to the people who help them. For instance, in the Poway Unified School District, there was a recent call "to find 'bold and creative solutions' toward balancing the budget...School board President Ginger Couvrette agreed, saying she wants to consider options before making drastic budget cuts. She suggested officials review changes to programs that don’t affect employees first" (source).
Teacher Librarians share the concern about the overall economic situation in our country. We know that when financial times are difficult, students and families are adversely affected and they will rely on libraries more than ever for access that they may not be able to afford on their own.
Claim: It's due to student absenteeism
Claim: It's due to student absenteeism
At the Thursday, February 13, 2025 Board Meeting, newly appointed Chief of Staff, Jerry Hobbs, (a brand new job description approved at the Special Governing Board Meeting on February 6, 2025 created in the Special Board Meeting on with a purported salary of ~$200K plus benefits) shared a presentation (view video) about high rates of student absenteeism and how "we would not have a deficit" if students were not absent as much.
Hobbs suggested that improving chronic absenteeism is "The Silver Bullet" that we have been missing.
Fortunately, the benefits that he cites are ALL things that Teacher Librarians not only agree on but actively support with students on our campus! Teacher Librarians actively prepare our students to be "life-ready learners" by supporting their academic achievement. As many students have shared, libraries are safe spaces where all are welcome, and this means Teacher Librarians actively "enhance social inclusion and emotional well-being." By providing access to resources right on campus (see information on access), students are also safer than having to travel, possibly unattended, to public libraries. Also, Teacher Librarians strive to engage family and community (see recent Read Across East County Community Event).
Teacher Librarians would love to collaborate with Mr. Hobbs and others on being part of the silver bullet solution!
Board President Dr. Gary Woods justified the recent hiring of new administrators and directors for making this discovery: "So with all of our new administrators and directors and thinking outside the box, we've discovered the problem is not really financial. The problem is absenteeism, and this is what transparency looks like" (source).
Hobbs recognized the valuable work that site educators and staff do to make schools welcoming, but he suggests the solution to "tackling chronic absenteeism takes a top to bottom approach...if they're [students] not tracked and prodded a little, they just won't come to school" (source).
Woods continued to suggest educating parents: "They need to realize that if their student graduates, how much more money they will make rather than being a dropout...if you want your children to support you, you better make sure they graduate and get a good job...this is transparency" (source).
Claim: Libraries will not close
Claim: Libraries will not close
Open does not mean our high quality library program will remain.
Open does not mean our high quality library program will remain.
When Board President Dr. Gary Woods discussed "thinking outside the box," he explained "And what we're finding is that as we implement our East County values of respect, responsibility, resilience, and rigor, that all these things will improve" (source). How can Woods suggest that alternative plans will ensure rigor when he is talking about replacing highly qualified, credentialed educators with certainly hardworking, but much less rigorously trained classified employees?
Our current Teacher Librarians are standout educators who hold multiple credentials and masters degrees. Our current Teacher Librarians teach in colleges on the side, present at educational conferences, and are published authors and researchers. Our current Teacher Librarians embody rigor.
Due to short-staffing, especially at the 5 schools that do not have essential classified Library Technicians (yes, we really should have BOTH positions for a school library to run well), Teacher Librarians do help with Chromebook troubleshooting and printing and other tasks that someone else could step right into. But, what people may not see is that Teacher Librarians also professionally curate resources and create websites like this one, only the websites are usually to support student research projects, navigating confusing technology systems, and finding information related to school and their futures.
While any cuts to staff are harmful, most cuts usually involve reducing staffing levels so that remaining people in a position end up with a higher work load. For example, if there were 8 English teachers and 1 gets cut, then the English program remains intact although with higher class sizes, meaning less attention for students and increased workloads for teachers. Eliminating Teacher Librarians, however, dismantles an entire program since they are the only ones who are qualified by CA Ed Code 44868 to be employed providing the professional services of a Teacher Librarian. Their work cannot be replaced by another staff member. Our standout school library program will no longer exist.
The district has affirmed on several occasions that libraries themselves will stay open, but keeping a building open with alternative staffing does not mean that the quality of the existing program with services provided by Teacher Librarians will remain. Learn more in the sections: How Will Cuts Affect People?, Will Libraries Close Completely?, Why Does It Make a Difference to Have Credentialed Teacher Librarians?, But, Aren't Teacher Librarians a "Bonus"?
Some of the services that will be lost with the elimination of Teacher Librarians:
Some of the services that will be lost with the elimination of Teacher Librarians:
Loss of instructional support provided by a credentialed educator available in the library to all students, everyday, throughout the day.
Loss of customized Teacher Librarian services for each school site. With a single District Librarian or Librarian of Record, the quality of services provided will be lowered and less specific to the needs of each school site.
Loss of classroom teacher and student support in the following areas: research and information literacy, technology literacy and safe usage, library resources and uses, effective use of databases, and much more.
Loss of effective and timely access to information such as with the increasingly bureaucratized (since classified staff will not be able to independently select items) acquisition and of new books added to each library.
Claim: Other school districts don't have Teacher Librarians
Claim: Other school districts don't have Teacher Librarians
There ARE nearby school districts that have certificated Teacher Librarians. This is not an exhaustive list, but below are some local examples.
Helix High School Charter - Right in our own community, Helix's library is staffed by a Teacher Librarian and 2 classified staff members.
Sweetwater Union High School District - This district similarly tried to cut Teacher Librarians in 2020, but this caused such disruption to school operations that Teacher Librarians were reinstated part-time almost immediately and then brought back full-time in 2022. Of note, Teacher Librarians also work along with a classified Library Technician at both the high school and middle school levels.
Francis Parker School - While it is a private school, Francis Parker has 2 Teacher Librarians, in addition to paraprofessional staff.
The Preuss School - Even as a charter school with ~800 students, there are 2 Teacher Librarians.
Ramona High School - Staffed with a Teacher Librarian, classified Library Tech, and classified Instructional Media/Tech.
More High Schools with Teacher Librarians: Poway Unified School District, Vista Unified School District, Oceanside Unified School District, Escondido Unified School District
True, far too many school districts do not have credentialed Teacher Librarians, but they should!
See minimum expectations outlined in Model School Library Standards for California Public Schools (p. 32) and the AASL Appropriate Staffing for Schools document that suggest having a credentialed teacher librarian AND paraprofessional support staff. According to the per pupil staffing ratio recommended, our schools should have 2 Teacher Librarians and a classified paraprofessional.
Staffing Recommendations in CA Model School Library Standards
See also recently published research "California Teacher Librarians & the Differences They Make," which affirms how schools WITH Teacher Librarians have library staff who are more involved with instruction, literacy, professional development, flexible access, research project support, technology access, larger book collections and database access, and more.
Source: "California Teacher Librarians & the Differences They Make" abstract
Claim: Libraries aren't needed with technology & AI
Claim: Libraries aren't needed with technology & AI
Our current Teacher Librarians helped build the infrastructure for and continue to support the smooth implementation of FutureForward 1:1 Chromebook use for student learning. When FutureForward first launched, it was Teacher Librarians who worked with the now eliminated GUHSDtech Instructional Technology team to make, launch, and sustain this program. It is exactly because Teacher Librarians worked so closely with the GUHSDtech team for years to support this work, that they understood how essential these District Office employees were when they were cut this time last year, Spring 2024.
AI is not the answer to everything. We are STILL human! An algorithm cannot replace the individual process of sense-making. However, Teacher Librarians are also always eager to stay current about new technologies so that we can support our students navigate whatever new information world they encounter. Like with any tool or resource, Teacher Librarians support student learning on how to effectively and critically apply its use.
Teacher Librarians have implemented lessons with classroom teachers that teach students about the benefits and drawbacks of AI and how to use it safely, effectively, and ethically. See a couple of examples of curriculum resources that Teacher Librarians have created to support this instruction: AI for Academics: Evaluating AI and AI Experimentation with A Piece of My Heart Research.
Last year, Teacher Librarians explored educational use of AI with a Digital Learning Coach whose job was eliminated Spring 2024.
Claim: My student never sets foot in the library
Claim: My student never sets foot in the library
Teacher Librarians love to welcome as many students as possible into the library space, whether for individual, group, or class visits. But, even if a student never steps foot inside the physical school library, they are still using and benefiting from learning resources created and maintained by Teacher Librarians.
Teacher Librarians create these resources in collaboration with and to support classroom teachers. It would be physically impossible for Teacher Librarians to help every student in person every day, but the work of Teacher Librarians is scaled out through classroom teachers. Students just may not always realize that this is happening.
The professional, highly skilled work that Teacher Librarians do is often unseen. See some examples of "The Hidden Work of Librarians" in the accompanying chart.
Comparison of Visible and Hidden Work of Librarians from this document
School libraries do the same work as the entire staff at a public library (including their central office), but with far fewer employees and the addition of creating curriculum and resources for teachers!
School libraries do the same work as the entire staff at a public library (including their central office), but with far fewer employees and the addition of creating curriculum and resources for teachers!
Claim: Maybe librarians are adding "bad" books
Claim: Maybe librarians are adding "bad" books
Teacher Librarians care deeply about supporting the needs of all students and their families. In order to support students' wide range of needs, skills, interests, and abilities, Teacher Librarians value supporting intellectual freedom and providing access to a wide range of books and other learning materials. Fortunately, Teacher Librarians are educated about using vetted resources to reference when making decisions about selecting books for our students. Teacher Librarians cannot possibly read every single page of every single book, but they do use professional resources when curating collections to make responsible, informed decisions. Examples of these types of resources include, but are not limited to the following: TitleWave, TeachingBooks, and NoveList Plus.
Teacher Librarians honor the personal preferences of individual students and families. Teacher Librarians regularly provide readers' advisory to students, and when doing so, we always emphasize that students have the right to stop reading and return materials at any point if it is not something that they are comfortable with or interested in. See all the Reading Rights that we support. Along these lines, Teacher Librarians also respect parental rights to decide what they deem appropriate or not for their students. Teacher Librarians always welcome parents to contact them in order to understand family preferences and notes may be added to a student's library account to ensure that these preferences are honored. Having said that, not all families share the same preferences and so Teacher Librarians curate an expansive collection to provide access to resources that meet the needs of all students and families.
A partial snapshot of Your Reading Rights
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