This North Carolina school district is getting rid of all of its librarians
A North Carolina school system plans to eliminate all of its librarian positions as part of a cost-cutting measure.
The Franklin County school board adopted a budget plan last month that moves all 11 school library media coordinators into vacant classroom teaching positions. The district plans to instead staff school libraries with less qualified media assistants for the 2024-25 school year
“We will still have active libraries and we will provide media services, but this program will be supported by media assistants,” Franklin County Superintendent Rhonda Schuhler said in a YouTube video.
Members of the N.C. School Library Media Association (NCSLMA) plan to attend Monday’s school board meeting to urge the district to reverse the school librarian cuts.
“The unconscionable decision that Franklin County Schools made to remove all of their certified School Librarians and deprive every student in Franklin County of a certified School Librarian is one that weighs heavy on all of us,” NCSLMA said in a position statement.
It’s not immediately clear how many other North Carolina school systems may also be cutting their media specialist positions.
School district losing COVID dollars
Like school districts across the nation, Franklin County has relied on federal COVID aid that’s going away this year. The district has received $30 million in federal COVID relief over the past four years.
Franklin has used the COVID aid to pay employees a longevity bonus of between $500 and $4,500 a year based on how long they’ve worked in the district. Schuhler said the bonus has allowed the district to keep pay competitive with other districts.
The district also used the COVID money to pay for intervention teachers in elementary schools and instructional coaches in middle schools. Schuhler said those positions have helped raise student achievement.
The district plans to use local funds now to keep the longevity bonus, instructional coaches and intervention teachers. To help come up with the money, the district is making cuts such as eliminating the librarian positions.
It’s not immediately clear how many of the 11 media coordinators still have the necessary certification to take on a teaching position.
Overall, the school system is asking county commissioners for a $5.2 million increase in local funding. Of that amount, the district says $2.5 million will go toward the longevity bonus and $1.85 million will go to charter schools due to their increased enrollment.
“It represents a commitment to our school community to prioritize retaining all existing employees and providing each of our staff members with a financial incentive and acknowledgment that we truly appreciate the roles they play in making a positive difference in the lives of our students and Franklin County residents each and every day,” Schuhler said in the video.
Group says school librarians are essential
NCSMLA launched a campaign to try to save the librarian positions. This includes asking the public to sign an online petition.
The media assistants who will now run the libraries won’t have the master’s degree level education and specific state-mandated training required for licensed school library media specialists, according to NCSMLA.
The group says it is essential to a school’s success to have a certified librarian.
“The decision by Franklin County Schools to proceed without certified School Librarians threatens to disadvantage its students relative to their peers, both within North Carolina and nationally, in these crucial educational domains — an outcome we find deeply concerning,” NCSMLA said.
