The Polk School District Board of Education voted to reduce the number of media specialists in the school system, particularly at the elementary school level.
Board members in a unanimous vote also requested a waiver from the state for class sizes, while also reducing the media specialists by two.
“We will still have a media specialist at each of our schools,” said Superintendent William Hunter. “In four of our smaller elementary schools, there will be a person there a half a day in the media center. They will have a para-professional that will be in there the other portion of the day.”
Hunter says no one will be losing their job in this move, as the personnel affected was moved to other positions in the system…
“As we all know, the role of the media professional has changed over the years and there’s a lot more that we deal with in terms of technology and this is just something that we feel is prudent at this time.”
The move comes on the heels of a massive shift in educational strategy in the school district, predominantly with foreign language and business education programs being eliminated or drastically changed.
Board members will also be present for a system wide meeting on Friday morning at the Cedartown Auditorium starting at 9:00 a.m. The annual meeting signals the beginning of the school year in Polk County, with students returning to the classroom on Thursday, August 14.