Parents and staff urge Roxbury board to reverse music-teacher reassignment and reconsider library staffing changes

Multiple members of the public used the board's public-comment period to press the board on staffing decisions that they said will harm students.

Tammy Pesellano (speaker 5) addressed the board in favor of a music teacher variously named in the transcript as Jessica (last name transcribed at different points as Harrison and Calderon). Pesellano said the teacher has been "a strong, supportive choir director of EMS for decades," that middle-school students benefit from her experience, and she urged the board to "reverse this decision now or at the very least reconsider it." (Public comment record: speaker_5.)

Shannon Michelle (speaker 16), a former student and community member, echoed that view, saying the teacher's 22 years of service has helped build the middle-school music program and prepares students for advanced high-school opportunities. Michelle said moving an experienced middle-school director to the elementary level risks the continuity and rigor of the district's middle-school music offerings. (Public comment record: speaker_16.)

Roxanna Caivano (speaker 17), media specialist at Roxbury High School, urged the board to reconsider proposed changes that she said would reduce library services across three buildings. She provided usage figures from the high-school library for the current school year, as reported in her remarks: "over 600 classes" used the library, "31,000 students swipe into the library," "18,000 items in our collection" and "over 4,000 items checked out." She warned that a shared-staffing plan that splits a librarian between buildings would functionally close libraries to regular service and diminish research and literacy supports for students. (Public comment record: speaker_17.)

The transcript does not record a response from the board that night beyond acknowledging the speakers. The comments were part of the public-comment portion of the meeting and no formal board action on staffing was recorded in the transcript that evening.

Because the transcript uses two different last names for the music teacher in public comment (Harrison and Calderon), this report uses only the teacher's first name where appropriate and notes the inconsistent transcription of the last name in the record.