SOMERSET COUNTY, MD - The Somerset County Public School Board of Education plans to eliminate 8 learning support assistance roles for the fiscal year 2027 budget.
Members of the Somersey Education Association tell WBOC that those 8 teachers were notified on Friday, less than a week before the start of summer vacation.
Community members and staff spoke out against the layoffs during a board of education meeting on Tuesday evening.
"The question is not whether our positions have a cost,” Brittany Walker, one of the laid-off learning support staffers, said in her speech during the meeting. “The question is whether our children can afford to lose us."
Learning support positions are classified differently from certified teachers, often with backgrounds in social work.
"They're a connection to the kids,” Somerset Education Association Vice President Barb Hicks said. "It might be their only safe space and they're taking away that support system for the students that they get to know and mentor."
Board chairman Matthew Lankford declined to comment. He spoke of broader concerns over student performance during the board meeting on Tuesday.
“I'm gonna tell you 10% is failure,” Lankford said. “That means out of our 2700 students, there's only 270 that are passing, and that is wrong."
Superintendent W. David Bromwell told the crowd on Tuesday that they will continue reviewing and working on next year’s budget, which has not yet received final approval from the Board of Education.
