Dear Bryant Families:

We are so fortunate to have such an engaged community at Bryant! The feedback and questions received about the staff proposal to fund the full time Intervention and Extension program specialist demonstrates the depth of that engagement from our families.

Over the past several days, the board members have talked to several parents as well as fielded emails asking for additional details around the impact on the budget, unallocated funds and the sustainability of the program moving into the next school year.  Parents are openly supportive of a full time dedicated Intervention and Extension specialist, especially in light of the building goals to challenge our advanced learners and see one year’s growth for every student in math, but have reservations about funding it as proposed by the staff.

This parental enthusiasm is also shared by the staff and administration at Bryant for the Intervention and Extension team and the Professional Learning Community work being conducted in the building today. Mr. Sanger has shared this work with our community at Curriculum Night and through the Bryant Weekly. However, while the entire staff generally supports the work of the PLCs and the Intervention and Extension program, not everyone is in agreement with the proposal that would deplete building reserves, reallocate budget items and include out-of-pocket money from the staff to fund one of the Intervention and Extension specialists.

When the PTSA Board stepped back to consider both parent and staff concerns, it became clear that it is just too soon to force a vote of the general membership. While the District’s pulling of the position came suddenly and decisively, and its immediate repercussions are highly disruptive, acting hastily to reinstate the program at the expense of both building and PTSA funds does not serve Bryant’s families well.  To be clear, the Intervention and Extensions program is not going away.  It will be scaled back considerably, and this will be challenging to the program, but we still have Teresa Elhardt and Leah Kumar, both half time specialists, as well as our 3 hardworking tutors.

In light of the Bryant PTSA and administration’s retraction of the staff proposal, we’ll use Tuesday’s general membership meeting to discuss:

• District policies impacting the building, resulting in the loss of a teacher.
• Bryant moving forward around the PLC work with a scaled back Intervention and Extension specialist program this year.
• Bryant continuing to address educational objectives.
• Funding the Intervention and Extension specialist, as well as essential professional development for our teachers to implement the changes most effectively and skillfully.
• What we should be doing as a community to influence state funding for basic education.

Thank you to the parents and staff for sharing your enthusiasm and concerns with the Bryant PTSA board and administration. Working together, we’ll continue to strengthen the community that makes Bryant what it is today.

Sincerely,
Leeann Huntington
PTSA President