I’m a Hopkinton resident and support staff member at HMS. I’m writing to correct a recent idea that keeps cropping up: community members have insisted that volunteers will “mobilize” to fill the gaps left by staff cuts. Last week the school board came to the heartbreaking decision to issue pink slips to myself and 59 support staff. The reality is this: My job cannot and should not be replaced by a volunteer, no matter how well-meaning.
I cannot emphasize enough how much I love working with students with special needs. It is fascinating, fun, and often exhausting. But my job goes beyond interactions with kids, including developing materials and coordinating individualized instructional units with case managers and teachers. Support staff are members of teams that work together to help students; volunteers can come and go. Our students require consistency from the adults working with them; team members need to depend on each other.
Volunteers cannot and should not be facing the “intense interactions” that are part of the work of support staff. These interactions require numerous hours of ongoing, specialized de-escalation training. Student safety and privacy would be compromised if those interactions were handled by volunteers. I am sure those who voted down the budget do not want students harmed, but they must understand that these students need specialized help to stay, as the law requires, in the least restrictive environment.
They need it and they deserve it, because they make both their classrooms and their community a better place.
ANDREA B. KANE
Hopkinton