The HCPSS Board of Education came to a conclusion this past Thursday, Feb.19, to restore 13 high school science paraeducator and 14 high school library media specialist positions, as long as they are able to get the necessary money from the county council.
According to an article published by the Baltimore Sun on Feb.20, the original budget proposal that superintendent Bill Barnes put together turned out to be an underestimation, as the updated budget will have $96 million to fund it. The school system is also factoring in an expected $7 million in state aid that they plan to receive.
Jessica Stockham’s position as a science paraeducator at Centennial was at risk of removal in the Board of Education’s fiscal year 2027 plan, in addition to Steven Parker, a media specialist at Centennial. However, Stockham and Parker play crucial roles behind the scenes that are essential to the everyday functioning of the school.
The high schools in Howard County currently have two media specialists, but this budget proposal was threatening to reduce each school to only one, which Parker says would have been detrimental.
“It 100% has to be a two person job because starting next year they said we are going to have to do AI lessons for every English class. That’s a lot of teaching,” Parker said. “If there was just one of us, then Mrs. Van Gieson would be teaching almost everyday 3-4 periods, which means for anyone who needs help with research ‘sorry you can’t have any help.’”
The advocacy of students like Audray Zheng, a senior at CHS, helped to bring the proposal’s cuts to attention. “Future science classes and future students at Centennial would be the ones impacted. They wouldn’t be able to have the labs because teachers wouldn’t have enough time to do it,” Zheng said.
Stockham did everything in her power to prevent the board from cutting her position, with her focus not only being on maintaining her job, but also a priority for students’ education. She knew that when the board fully understood the importance of her position it would be hard for them to follow through with the cut.
“I testified at the board three times,” Stockham shared. “A lot of people think that all we do is check eyewasher and safety shower and replace goggles, but it’s a lot more than that. We help with the retention of information, and that actually helps special education students and students in general understand the concepts of science better.”
Parker also detailed that he had to advocate to the board who may not have been fully aware of the risks that would arise from removing a media specialist from each school.
“We had to do a lot of education to be like ‘this is what the job is.’ It’s a lot of not just advocating but also educating the people on the board so they really understand.”
