WALL TOWNSHIP — Over two dozen parents and their children gathered outside the Wall school district’s Board of Education offices Tuesday evening to protest the elimination, for next year, of 30 part-time lunch and recess paraprofessional positions following last week’s school budget adoption.
“We are really here today to save the heart of the school,” protest organizer Jon Rainho told The Coast Star. “They literally made these cuts and just tore apart the heart of the schools.”
More than 20 protestors lined the grassy area near the building and were met with honks from passing cars. The protestors and Wall Township school administrators did not cross paths at the protest.
Superintendent Tracy Handerhan’s comment made to The Coast Star by email on Wednesday morning echoed previous statements made on the matter. She reiterated, “Our lunch/recess supervision will continue to utilize full-time lunch paraprofessionals and we will be increasing the number of certificated staff members. As in the past, our school security officers will continue to play a vital safety role during recess.”
The Wall Township Board of Education unanimously adopted the district budget at its April 29 meeting. The job cuts for next year save around $220,000 in the $91,000,000 budget, according to the superintendent.
During the public comment portion of the board meeting, many attendees objected to the cuts, including Rainho, members of the Wall Township Education Association, parents and paraprofessionals.
Since the meeting, Rainho created a Facebook group that has amassed around 200 members, titled, “Wall Township Parent Coalition for Student Safety and Wellbeing.” Rainho also spearheaded a petition demanding answers on the cuts that, as of Wednesday morning, had 468 signatures of parents from Wall schools and other districts. Rainho sent an email regarding the petition to Superintendent Handerhan Wednesday morning, with The Coast Star included on the email.
“The community is particularly alarmed that these cuts were approved while administrative salary increases, including for yourself and Mr. Smyth, were maintained — and while the budget allocates $20 million for benefits within a $91 million total,” Rainho said in the email. “Additionally, the district has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent years paying employees placed on administrative leave, who were later allowed to cash out sick and vacation time. These practices raise significant questions about financial priorities and stewardship.”
“To me, this makes no sense,” said Rainho, who volunteers for the Old Mill School’s Home and School PTA. “You know how much these paras mean to the kids, and how much they really support and love the kids. When I’m volunteering at the school, I get told details about my own kids that I didn’t even know from paras. It’s not like we are a district hurting for money; the money is there.”
Part-time paraprofessionals Christine Bodi and Jenna Kerekes spoke to The Coast Star at the protest about the role the paraprofessionals play in Wall schools.
“I’m here to support us paraprofessionals, because the kids need us,” Bodi said. “There’s a lot of things we do besides just watching the kids on the playground. We open their lunches, get them into lines, and there needs to be a lot of eyes on the playground. We know what the kids need, and when they need it. We know the teachers teach them, but they don’t know when somebody is sitting on the playground alone crying. That’s what we do, and we also love the kids. We love them very, very much.”
“We treat those kids like they are our family,” Kerekes said. “I have my kids in the school also. It’s a big part of the community when we are all together. When you see kids on the soccer fields, they get so excited to see us. You also get to watch the kids grow up. We know their personalities, because during free time like lunch and recess, things are different. I’ve stayed with a few students that were upset, panic attacks, the whole thing, and they would rather talk to me about it. I had a girl with me for the whole recess just the other day.”
“It’s kind of like being their mom, when their mom is not there,” Bodi said.
Wall Township Education Association (WTEA) President Gail Maher was present at the protest and reiterated to The Coast Star the importance of the part-time paraprofessionals.
“Despite viable financial alternatives, the board chose a path that removes trusted adults from our cafeterias and playgrounds,” Maher said. “While additional certified staff will be present, their rotation and limited numbers mean less consistent care for our students. Familiarity matters, especially for young children navigating their school environment.”
Board response
Superintendent Handerhan emailed a response to The Coast Star on Wednesday morning following the protest, stating “Although not including the thirty 2.5 hour per day lunch paraprofessionals in next year’s budget enabled the district to close the budget gap, the reduction in force is also a matter of efficiency. As we examined current needs in our elementary schools, a great deal of time was spent on developing a new schedule. The new schedule not only provides additional language arts and mathematics instruction and enrichment, but it also permits us to maximize existing full-time staff. Our lunch/recess supervision will continue to utilize full-time lunch paraprofessionals and we will be increasing the number of certificated staff members. As in the past, our school security officers will continue to play a vital safety role during recess. Again, I would like to thank the part-time lunch paraprofessionals for all of their service throughout the years.”
“As superintendent of schools I am obligated to manage district resources efficiently and respond to evolving needs,” Handerhan continued. “Often difficult decisions need to be made, and I remain grateful that we did not need to cut any locally funded student programs in next year’s budget.”
Superintendent Handerhan also shared a letter with the school district last week on the staffing cuts, explaining that increased full-time, certified staff will be utilized for supervising during lunch and recess.
“Our team was also able to identify opportunities to increase supervisory opportunities using full-time, certificated staff during lunch and recess,” the letter reads. “As a result, the realized savings of approximately $220,000 by not including the 2.5-hour lunch paraprofessional positions in the budget were used to help close next year’s budget gap. Please know this decision was not made lightly. We are deeply grateful to our part-time lunch paraprofessionals for their dedicated service to the children of Wall Township. Their contributions have made a meaningful difference, and we thank them sincerely.”
“I must stress that the reduction in force of the 2.5-hour lunch paraprofessionals does not impact the number of instructional paraprofessionals who support students with IEPs (during lunch and recess as well) or those serving in special education roles,” the letter continues. “Those positions are mandated and remain fully funded in the budget. We have received some questions regarding elementary lunch and recess supervision. I want to assure families that without question, the students will be appropriately supervised during lunch and recess. While the supervision ratio may vary slightly depending on class sizes throughout the district, all students will continue to be supervised by board employees, and specifically, by an increased number of certificated staff. Please note that our budget continues to support full-time elementary lunch/recess coordinators, instructional paraprofessionals, security personnel, and, to reiterate, with the restructuring of the elementary school schedule for the 2025-2026 school year, our K–5 students will also be supervised by an increased number of certificated employees.”
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