As adjustment and guidance counselors at Greenfield High School, we speak to the necessity of retaining teachers and reviving and supporting programs that have a direct impact on children and teenagers. The proposed cuts, among others, to high school teachers, middle school sports, and special education services, and mothballing the elementary/middle school music/band programs, etc. will have long-term negative consequences to the health of the students of Greenfield Public Schools.
We testify fully, thoughtfully and vigorously to the importance of keeping all staff and programs that service students directly. While the reasons students are struggling psychologically and academically post-pandemic are complex, we believe the keys for the success of every student in any school is to have positive and reliable relationships with trusted adults, services that can meet the various needs of at risk/vulnerable students, and programs that can support and develop all students’ talents and strengths.
As counselors at GHS, we see students who depend heavily on these critical staff relationships, resources and services to navigate their day. Nationwide, students are struggling in unprecedented ways that are obvious to anyone who works in a public school. Staffing levels at the high school this year are at a bare bones level due to the dearth of available instructional assistants. Staff members themselves are stressed due to the mental health demands and behaviors of disregulated students. Losing vital teachers and programs at GPS will harm an already compromised and vulnerable student population and exacerbate our daily challenges.
The students, of course, who will most directly be affected by the cuts at the schools will be children whose families are lower income and cannot afford to subsidize limited school offerings. Access to services, programs and committed teachers who interact with students daily are crucial for students who may not have all the support they need to flourish in their home environments.
For example, cutting programs like all middle schools sports and not reviving the elementary/middle school music/band programs will not only quickly affect the quality, integrity and size of teams and membership in the high school, but the very students who may most need programs like these will lose.
Equity will continue to be an issue when only families who can afford to pay for outside recreational sports leagues and music lessons will have access to these activities. Families who have the means will continue to send their children to schools elsewhere to find the programming that Greenfield does not have.
Lastly, retaining qualified, talented teachers and supporting the programs they lead are challenges in the best of times, and as any public school teacher will tell you, these are not the best of times. GHS has many excellent teachers and as a community, we should be doing everything in our power to support them.
Our best teachers commit extra time, energy and expertise to clubs, coaching and leading field trips, and are a valuable resource to both students and staff. Investing in meaningful programs, expanding access to services for all students, retaining dedicated teachers and fully funding the school budget is what the mayor, the School Committee and the City Council should be committed to, not cutting teachers, programs and services.
To paraphrase former teacher Frederick Douglass, it is easier to build healthy, strong, successful children than repair broken adults.
Thank you for all that you do.
Deborah Potee, Stacy Page and Nick Fouche are adjustment counselors and Shelly DeMeo and Siobhan Fitzgerald are guidance counselors at Greenfield High School.