I was in attendance at town meeting on April 27 and was relieved when a resident proposed an amendment to include $350,000 to the non-override budget. The hope and assumption is that the school committee will now use this money to keep all reading and math interventionists on the job in our six elementary schools and two middle schools. That’s a huge relief.

These interventionists are paid an hourly rate, but the expectation that is placed on them is very high, and often this means that they bring prep work home and do this extra work on their own time. If they need to miss a day for a medical appointment or to take care of a sick family member, they don’t get paid. The $350,000 spent on their cumulative salaries is an excellent deal for the district – as the majority of these interventionists have graduate degrees and spent years as classroom teachers. I feel relieved that these positions appear to be saved if the override fails to pass.

My own two sons, who are now 13 and 19, both received reading support from several excellent interventionists from grades 1-4. But, at times, both of my sons needed more intensive support. It was then that the literacy specialist would step in and work with them alone or in a group of two students. This needed “leveling up” of support is what can prevent many students from falling one or more grade levels behind in reading skills or can even mitigate a reading delay, eliminating the need for school-based educational testing which might result in an Individualized Education Program or IEP which is more expensive for the district.

So, what about the elimination of one reading specialist at each of the three K-2 schools – Robinson, Miller, and Nabnasset? If the override fails to pass, these three teachers will be gone. In my opinion, this move would be such a huge loss – to the students who now won’t be allowed more time to crack the code of reading in daily small groups with this person, to the classroom teachers who now can’t tap into the same level of professional advice and mentorship from this person as they try to help these same readers back in the crowded classroom, and lastly, to the interventionists who worked with this person and now won’t be able to learn their wealth of knowledge through hands-on observations of specific teaching strategies and ongoing check-ins.

I was a reading interventionist at a K-2 school in Westford prior to the pandemic and feel sickened by the thought of how many children would lose out on this valuable support. I remember seeing students coming and going all day long, passing by my table, as they made their way to see the two literacy specialists at their tables in the other corners of the room. With one less literacy specialist, group sizes of 1-2 students would likely increase to groups of 3-4 students. I am currently a reading tutor at a Lowell elementary school (a similar position to an interventionist in Westford), where groups of 3-4 students are common. Sadly, I cannot say that I am able to meet the needs of everyone in my larger groups.

Right now is not the time to be shrinking our literacy team at the ground level. National statistics show the need for more direct instruction in phonics, and a more structured literacy approach now appears to be replacing balanced literacy in our schools. With these important shifts in reading instruction, now is the time for all hands on deck, not a time for some to have to walk the plank.

Regardless of how we got to the point of cutting these positions, both financially and maybe even philosophically – please do the right thing now and stand up for these incredibly valuable literacy teachers by voting for the override this Tuesday, May

7th.

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