By Debra Messick

CAMBRIDGE - The Dorchester County Public Schools budget won approval by a 3-1 School Board vote Monday, June 3.

But when a cost-cutting proposal to absorb media specialists into classrooms aroused a public outcry, the idea was quickly taken off the table by the administration.

The dissenting vote against the budget’s passage came from the Board’s newest member, Talibah Chikwendu, who holds an M.S. in School Librarianship and has taught at all grade levels throughout the county.

Board member Sherri Hubbard voted yes, after ascertaining from President Diaz and Vice President Morgan that proposals in the budget could be and often were amended. Hubbard voiced agreement with Chikwendu that Media Specialists played an important role.

Board member Chris Wheedleton, in a written response for comments following the meeting, voiced his strong opposition to the vote taking place after he’d made it known that he was not able to attend.

Following Thompson's PowerPoint budget presentation Chikwendu asked Thompson what was fueling the proposed budget’s decrease in instructional salaries.

He replied that the idea of moving media specialists from libraries into the classroom had been discussed.

“There are a whole lot of things that have been done wrong over the course of the last few years, issues that are coming home to roost, and have to be dealt with today. The cuts that have to be made, that's just the first round possibly, we really have to look at our financial situation, that's the truth,“ Thompson said.

“It's almost like when you give your kid a credit card and tell them not to spend over $50. But that's no longer going to happen. We have taken a very hard approach,” Diaz said.

“The first part of solving a problem is admitting you have a problem. And we had an overspending problem. In a regular business, you don't carry 50 to 100 extra staff. It's a tough decision he has to make, and one not taken lightly. He (Thompson) and I have had dozens of conversations in the past few weeks about this,” Diaz said.

“Media Specialists are not extra staff, especially if we’re concerned about student achievement in the area of reading and language arts. They’re not extra staff. And having them in the classroom doesn't necessarily support that,” Chikwendu said.

North Dorchester High School Media Specialist Jacqueline Bennett agreed that her position is vital.

“While I'm doing state testing, which just concluded, (if I were in a classroom I wouldn't be able to support that), I'm still teaching every day.

I have children that walk into my library every day that need extra help with dual enrollment. I teach two full classes of research every day. I've also led state facilitated professional development sessions throughout the county on learning tools and databases that most of our county teachers don't know exist,” Bennett said.

On the subject of literacy and reading, Bennett suggested that libraries offered a more personal, less cookie cutter approach to reading.

Following the meeting, Cambridge South Dorchester High School Career Coach Sandy Correa Shaw, a certified School Library Media Specialist for 25 years, joined many others expressing shock and outrage on social media.

“To be referred to as "extra staff" is a slap to the dignity of these professionals. THEY ARE HIGHLY EFFECTIVE TEACHERS. Not only do they teach the valuable skills of information literacy, reading, technology, and the list can go on....but every Media Center is a safe-haven to many, many students who feel that it's the only place they are welcome day in and day out, not judged, picked on, made fun of, and feel loved and supported. A sizable portion of students skip lunches so they can spend their free time in the library; it's the high point of their day,” Shaw wrote on her Facebook page.

“I could write a dissertation about the importance of school libraries to students (lots of research to prove it) and it doesn't matter students' ages.... but with our reading scores plummeting, and student mental health at a crisis level, NOW is the time to emphasize the key role a School Library Media Specialist plays in the academic, emotional & physical wellbeing of our kids!” Shaw wrote.

School Board member Chris Wheedleton, unable to attend the meeting due to a business conflict, commented on several social media posts decrying the decision. Responding in writing to a request for comments later, he expressed relief that the decision has been reversed.

“It is the right decision to restore Media Specialists to the budgeted resources our schools have to work with in this next school year. They are amazing connections to the students and the world of books and reading, which are the core foundations for everything else,” he wrote.

“We do have challenging budgets to manage with significant changes to resources from both the state and county that will require us to make tough decisions this year and in years to come. It will truly take a coming together of the community and all the resources that we can gather to provide them with the best opportunities for learning and growth,” Wheedleton wrote.