'Invaluable' support personnel jobs are on the education chopping block

BRISTOL, Va. – Debbie Snowden’s work day begins before 6:30 a.m. and typically ends about 3:30 p.m.

Each morning and afternoon, she drives a bus load of special education children to and from school – and in the hours between works as an academic aide for Highland View Elementary second-grade teacher Ramey DeBusk, who calls her help invaluable.

Snowden, who has worked in the classroom for eight years, is one of more than 80 support personnel employed by the city school system. Besides aides, the category includes secretaries, librarians, guidance counselors and some administrators.

Invaluable or not, funding for the salaries of school support personnel remains squarely in the crosshairs of lawmakers who are searching for a solution to Virginia’s ongoing budget woes.

In his proposed biennial budget, former Gov. Tim Kaine urged reduced funding for support personnel.

The state currently funds the salaries of about 60 of the city’s 80 support employees, with the locality picking up the balance. Under the proposed state budget, between 30 and 40 funded positions could be slashed, Assistant Superintendent Michael Amstein said last week.

“That would be devastating to the quality of instruction, devastating to the service to the community, as far as having people to answer questions when someone comes into a school,” Amstein said. “It would totally change the landscape that we currently see right now as far as how schools operate and the people that are there to provide service.”

As an aide, Snowden’s primary responsibility is to help young children learn to read. While a typical classroom might have 20-30 students, Snowden usually works with smaller groups of five or six – in 45-minute blocks of time – to help sharpen their skills using a series of reading programs and exercises.

“The reading programs are very important. We’ve seen kids who couldn’t even pronounce their letters go on and learn to read very well. It’s rewarding to see that happen,” Snowden said. “If they can read, they can learn to read instructions on other things they do. The reading is their future. If they can read, all the other things will fall in place for them.”

The emphasis on reading has resulted in steadily improving state standardized test scores, Highland View Principal Debbie Leonard said.

“We concentrate on that [reading] K through three, because it’s their foundation. And if their foundation isn’t solid, they’re going to have problems later on. We try to be proactive and stop that from happening,” Leonard said.

Working with smaller groups of students is important, DeBusk said, to help them learn at a comfortable rate.

“Nobody learns at the same pace. That’s what we’re differentiating for, so the kids can learn at their level,” DeBusk said. “It would be a lot harder to do those small groups without her [Snowden], because you need to do those small groups without interruption to do the programs and make sure the kids are on task.”

In addition to specialized help, Snowden and other aides make the education process work more smoothly, Leonard said. They are responsible for checking homework, tracking papers and report cards, making copies and otherwise assisting teachers.

“All of them [aides] must complete both initial and ongoing specialized training on the different programs and equipment they utilize,” the principal said.

Second-grade teacher Barbara Gammon said the teaching process now requires more testing, more paperwork and more individual attention than just a few years ago.

Instructor Aley Kistner said she can’t imagine managing her kindergarten class without a well-trained aide.

“The expectations for students are a lot greater than they used to be,” Leonard said. “What students are being taught in pre-school and kindergarten, years ago was given to them in first or second grade.”

Aides are trained school system employees who work regular schedules, as opposed to parent volunteers who typically come into schools for a short time each week and work with an individual child.

“It would be a very big hardship if she wasn’t here,” Leonard said. “She does a great job, she has a great rapport with the kids. I think people understand it’s numbers, but I don’t think people understand the impact it could have on the future of these children.”

dmcgee@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2532