Education Cuts Hit Home

Update (06.17.11): The district has found a way to keep both librarians on staff. More to follow.

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I know I have some readers in the Taconic Hills Central School District in Columbia County, N.Y. If you're one of them, take heed.

In its annual ritual of cutting faculty and staff to satisfy budgetary requirements, the superintendent and Board of Education have once again set their sights on the library-media center, where there are currently two professional librarians.

The superintendent is proposing to cut a position, leaving one professional librarian for the entire K-12 district of some 1,400 students. Twenty years ago, there were four librarians. Through attrition, the BOE has whittled that total down to two, so the library has certainly seen its share of cuts over the years.

If you're concerned about this situation, then you should call or email Superintendent Mark Sposato, elementary school Principal John Gulisane or middle school Principal Neil Howard. And show up for the BOE's next meeting on Wednesday, June 22, to make your voice heard.

Disclosure: My wife has been a librarian at Taconic Hills since 1990. She is not, however, the librarian who will be losing her job under the superintendent's proposal.