NC's Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to Cut 80 Librarians
RSSBy Lauren Barack
To help close a $101 million budget gap, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) says it has given direct orders to the principals of its 178 K-12 public schools: cut 80 media specialists for the coming school year. While principals were given the discretion to choose who they would cut from a short list that included counselors and literacy facilitators, the layoffs will leave many media centers in the district unstaffed. However, some Title 1 schools will be allowed to use their funds to hire a library assistant as a replacement, and 31 of the 80 media specialists will be reassigned, says CMS spokesperson LaTarzja Henry. "The onus was on the principal to cut [his own] support staff because they best know their needs," says Henry. " That's the key reason why Pamela Grundy, the parent of a student who attends Shamrock Gardens Elementary School in Charlotte, NC, and the PTA president there, says she isn't upset with her school principal for sending a layoff notice to media specialist Margaret Hollar on Friday May 13. However, the timing couldn't be worse, given that the K-5 school and its 360 students recently won a $100,000 library makeover from discount giant Target Corporation and the Heart of America-a grant that Hollar helped write. The renovation was scheduled to take place by this fall. "[The cuts] are especially ironic in our case," Grundy says. "But it's really a terrible decision for a principal to have to make." Hollar is a beloved figure at the school, creating a Gift of Reading program, which collects hundreds of books that students can then give to other classmates, and who is also known for dressing in costumes that range from Pippi Longstocking to a can of spinach when reading to her students, according to a blog post of Grundy's. Neither Target nor CMS's Henry returned a request for comment on how the cut will affect the school library's renovation plans. In an interview earlier last week, Henry explained that while CMS didn't want to force principals to make these choices, it had little option given the warnings it has received about its own budget. Still, while Charlotte-Mecklenburg county will vote in June on school funding, the state of North Carolina has waited in the past until as late as September before approving a final state budget, which could then potentially open more money for schools, says Henry. Yet, whether that will come in time for Hollar and Shamrock Gardens remains unknown. "We're hoping the budget outlook will improve," says Grundy. "But for now, the official notices of layoffs have gone out." I love Shamrock Gardens Elementary School in Charlotte, NC, and i want that my children go there and learn many things from such an good school
<a href="http://www.logoian.com/">business logo design</a> As a child I went to an elementary school with no staff librarian for two years. It was a sad, sad, library experience for that period. It makes a HUGE difference! I wonder about the professionalism of the school library media program. Do the media assistants have the training to catalog materials in the way that their patrons can search the material? Is there central support to assist in the accountability of state reports, curriculum, and record keeping? It saddens me that in this day of information overload that the role that is trained to teach, model, orgainize/inventory, and evaluate information from all venues(print or electronic)is being looked upon as invaluable. This is a position that does touch all students, faculty/staff, administrators, and community. What an injustice to the students! * = Required information
The library at
Shamrock Elementary.
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