Well its almost complete , Miller with Bacon being the patsy to her crimes, will have removed a majority of the past of all we have known at PVRS, To lose Ms.Hawkins-Harrison’s is a travesty and for ” committee member David Young to say not to personalize this, shows he doesn't know a damn thing about this school or its students and teacher.
I would be very concerned about your children , it's obvious here that the one's in charge , don't!
NORTHFIELD — Members of the Pioneer Valley Regional School District’s School Committee have mixed opinions on whether to eliminate the dean of students’ position.
Pioneer Valley Regional School Principal Jean Bacon previously proposed cutting 10 full-time faculty positions, as well as the dean of students, and reducing one district technical support staff person to half-time. During Tuesday’s School Committee meeting, Bacon said cuts would also include four instructional assistants and one custodian.
Bacon said at the time her goal was to lower Pioneer’s overall budget by 9 or 10 percent, while eliminating what she describes as a “big misalignment” between the number of teachers and the number of students. Enrollment at Pioneer has dropped 25 percent over the past eight years, though no adjustments in staffing levels have been made.
Cathy Hawkins-Harrison’s dean of students position has proved to be the most contentious of the proposed staffing cuts, leading to discussion at multiple meetings.
“There are things that that position deals with that are very important to this school and this district,” committee member Sharon Fontaine said during a budget subcommittee meeting last month.
“I think it’s doable,” she said previously.
“If you look at the size of the school, it doesn’t call for more than two administrators,” Superintendent Ruth Miller added.
However, other committee members noted the number of Pioneer administrators that resigned last school year, including Principal William Wehrli and Vice Principal Mike Duprey, and the effect their leaving has had on students.
“To have that one administrator that’s still here leave, that’s making them sad,” committee Chairwoman Patricia Shearer said at the Jan. 31 meeting.
The discussion continued during Tuesday’s meeting.
“We’re talking about a specific person, who in many instances, is really the face of Pioneer,” said committee member Jim Bell.
“I don’t think it’s right to personalize this,” committee member David Young argued. “I’m very concerned with function.”
Currently, the dean of students’ position is still among the proposed cutbacks in next fiscal year’s budget. The budget will not be finalized until it is approved by the School Committee and at least three of the four member towns.
