Members of the Hollister Elementary School Teachers Association
(HESTA) and a parent bashed the Hollister School District (HSD)
Board Tuesday night for promotions and budget cuts they say
don’t
”
put the students first.
”
Hollister – Members of the Hollister Elementary School Teachers Association (HESTA) and a parent bashed the Hollister School District (HSD) Board Tuesday night for promotions and budget cuts they say don’t “put the students first.”
The 10 teachers and parents who attended the meeting are angry because last June the board approved a budget that made $2 million in cuts, which increased class sizes for grades four through eight, and also kindergarten. The board said there was no money and their goal was to keep cuts as far from the classroom as possible, but teachers are criticizing them for making these cuts, and then creating a new special assignment position for former Gabilan Hills Principal Diane Campbell at the district office.
“The board needs to take a good look at itself and the way it’s handling things,” said Jan Grist, a teacher at Marguerite Maze Middle School. “The children are packed into classrooms like sardines, how does the board justify promoting Diane Campbell?”
Dean Bubar, director of business and finance for the district, said the board voted to move Campbell to the district office, and her salary is part of the $21.9 million spent on certified employee salaries and benefits. Because of the fluctuation in teachers, Bubar said there is often extra money budgeted and available as the new school year comes around.
“When we develop the budget in May and June, we’re not exactly sure what vacancies we’ll have for teachers, so we truly don’t know how much money to budget,” Bubar said. “We either end up with savings or needing to budget more money.”
Campbell’s salary as a principal on special assignment can range between $79,000 and $89,000, according to Bubar.
Board Member Margie Barrios said Campbell’s new job, which is taking district test scores and analyzing them to show gains and losses in student achievement, is what the teachers wanted.
“We did an interview with staff and administrators about two years ago, and one of the things that came out is the state requires us to gather all that data, and they (teachers and administrators) wanted to see it put to use,” Barrios said. “And I think we’re able to put it to use now.”Board President Dee Brown declined to comment on the promotion and district-wide cuts saying “it’s a personnel issue and people are just making such a big deal about it.”
Michal Cook, president of HESTA, told the board Tuesday night that because of its decisions, there is “low moral amongst all of Hollister School District.”
“Who suffers when the district isn’t doing its job?” she said. “The children do.”
Parent Stephanie Loyd agrees with Cook and said the children at her daughters school are suffering academically.
“My daughter has been working in the hallway because there are too many kids in the classroom,” she told the board. “Some of our schools are scoring low on testing, and it’s not the teachers who are failing our students. It’s the district and the board.”
Christine Tognetti covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 831-637-5566 ext. 330, or [email protected]
