CYPRESS, Texas – Librarian jobs are on the chopping block at Cy-Fair ISD as the district discusses major budget cuts.
The district is in a $38 million deficit. Officials said they have not seen an increase in funding in five years. Librarians and parents tell KPRC 2 Superintendent Douglas Killian held a meeting with the librarians at 3 p.m. on Friday. They learned about a proposed plan where many of the librarians could be removed and reassigned.
KPRC 2 Reporter Corley Peel sat down with a Cy-Fair ISD librarian, who asked to remain anonymous. She fought through tears as she shared her thoughts on potentially being removed from her school’s library.
“I personally think that God put me in my job. That I was called to be a librarian. For me personally, the library is the heart of the campus,” said the librarian.
There are currently 90 librarians across Cy-Fair ISD. The proposed cuts would drop that amount to 42 librarians. 31 of those librarians would cover two elementary schools, serving 1,500 to 2,000 students each. Seven middle school librarians would cover 21 middle school campuses, serving 4,000 to 5,000 students each. Four librarians would cover 13 high school campuses where librarians would serve roughly 10,000 to 12,000 students each.
The rest of the librarians would be reassigned to other positions, according to the anonymous librarian. She said the district could determine which librarians will stay based on seniority.
“They will be put on an excess list that principals will have access to and we don’t know exactly how its going to work,” said the librarian.
She said this move could have a negative impact on students.
“I think in the long run, it’s going to hurt test scores, it’s going to hurt graduation rates. It’s going to hurt the skill set that students have when they leave high school and they go out into the world,” said the librarian.
Parents like Ashley Buckner are also upset. Buckner also volunteers at her son’s library.
“I am a product of Cy-Fair ISD and I remember my elementary school librarian. It fostered my love of reading and my son is having an amazing time in the library. We need to work together to make sure that we are doing the best for our students because this is not it. There are other ways that we can make those tough cuts and this is just not it,” said Buckner.
The librarian we spoke with said she wants the district to remember that librarians are relevant.
“We are relevant to literacy, we are relevant to the development of children. It’s hard to relay that to somebody that’s never had the joy of recommending a book to a child and that child coming back and saying, I loved it,” said the librarian.
KPRC 2 reached out to Cy-Fair ISD for comment. With it being the weekend, we have not heard back yet but will update this story once that information is available. The proposed plan for librarians has not been officially finalized. Librarians and parents tell KPRC 2 the district will hold a meeting about the matter on Tuesday.