by Elizabeth Darling
In an effort to keep Palo Alto school budget cuts as far away from the classroom as possible, district officials are targeting such support services as school psychologists.
Yet psychologists and human services officials say that while the cuts aren't intended to affect classrooms, many students will suffer indirectly.
"Some of what (psychologists) do affects how well (students) are doing in the classroom," said Richard Condon, coordinator of health and human services, whose position is slated to be eliminated.
Part of the $3 million in budget cuts the district is making probably will include one full-time psychologist, forcing the remaining six to spread themselves thinner among the 15 schools.
The district is also planning to eliminate the one-and-a-half coordinator positions for the district's Health and Human Services Department, virtually eliminating it. The department's responsibilities will mostly be school-based, or added to an existing district administrator's job description.
The school board is scheduled to vote on the proposed budget cuts on March 21.
"I grow increasingly concerned as I look at the lists of cuts and see those that I would classify as direct student services that focus on students who are most at risk," school psychologist Gary Krikorian told the school board last week.
As cuts are made, he fears, more and more of psychologists' time will have to be devoted to "mandated" services, state-required duties such as assessment for students with learning difficulties and I.Q. testing.
The problem is that over the years, the role of school psychologists has expanded well beyond those functions, in proportion to the needs of the students and families they serve.
"The cuts are hitting vulnerable student populations at a time when we're seeing an increase in complexity of student needs," Krikorian said. "A good proportion of what we do would be listed as non-mandated services, but I feel (they) are essential . . . This is time well spent and is preventative in nature.
"The school psychologist brings to the school a unique perspective of looking at the whole child in terms of intellectual, social, emotional and physical development," he said. Psychologists act as liaisons between pediatricians and schools, make referrals to mental health agencies, run support groups, train staff and do crisis intervention.
The proposed cuts call for the Health and Human Services Department's coordinator and secretarial staff to be reassigned. Coordinator Condon already has been placed at Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School as acting dean of students.
"It's fairly typical to want to protect the classroom and class size," Condon conceded. "Your support jobs are always the most vulnerable."
What will be sacrificed with the school psychologist cuts, he said, is "being on campus, available for other things, to deal with a crisis. Those are the things that are going."
Associate Superintendent Barbara Liddell, who oversees educational services, including health and human services, said the reorganization is still evolving and final decisions won't be made until late March.
"I'm trying to retain as much flexibility as I can," she said. "People have problems living with ambiguity and that's what we're asking them to do."
While she was quick to say that the services will still be offered, "as a department, it will look considerably different." Even so, the services, she said, "will continue whether or not the administrative structure does."
As in many other districts, human services in Palo Alto has grown over the years because state and federal money was available. A half-time coordinator position was supported by federal funds, Liddell said, which the district no longer has.
"Education services in general is taking a big hit," Liddell said. The division will cut a total of $448,000 from its budget, including the administrative reorganization, which affects two full-time positions and four part-time ones. Besides health and human services, curriculum services and educational options, which includes vocational education, will also be affected.
"I'm concerned that we don't lose the coordinating and oversight that goes on," said board member Susie Richardson. "There has to be a there there."
"It would be a very healthy thing to think out some kind of oversight monitoring," agreed board member Amado Padilla. "Most of the educational (cuts) are basically hitting vulnerable populations. The discussion has been around services for vulnerable student populations. It's incumbent on us to keep that in mind."
@jumphead:School cuts
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