HEBRON—Responding to appeals from parents, residents, and their education support staff, Hebron's school board acted last night to avert layoffs that would have negatively impacted vital services for the community's students. In a unanimous vote, the Board of Education restored three paraprofessionals and a school secretary originally slated for elimination in next year's budget. While non-certified employees in the district's two schools applaud the move, they remain concerned about a custodian scheduled for layoff not included in the staff restoration plan passed by the board.

"We are often called the 'engine that keeps Hebron's schools running,'" Gail Gondyke, a Hebron Elementary School secretary with 10 years of service in the district, said during last night's meeting. "We believe your priorities should be with direct education services for the children in our schools. Cutting any non-certified positions risks 'the engine breaking down,'" said Gondyke, the President of the CSEA/SEIU Local 2001 chapter representing the schools' support personnel.

Gondyke's comments refer to the planned elimination of five education support positions, a move her colleagues and area residents asked the school board to reconsider when the final budget package was adopted on June 15. In response, Hebron Public Schools' superintendent last night proposed utilizing surplus funds and redirecting resources in order to reverse all but one of the non-certified employee layoffs called for in the 2010 – 2011 fiscal year's budget.

"We're grateful that the school board restored nearly all the support staff they were planning to cut," said Tammy Porter, a paraprofessional with nine years experience serving special needs children in Hebron Elementary School. "We knew they wanted to make better budget choices than cuts to student services," Porter, the Treasurer of the Union's Chapter, said after last night's vote.

Porter and her co-workers committed last night to work with the superintendent to achieve additional cost savings in order to assure clean, healthy facilities and grounds for the pre-kindergarten through sixth-grade students they serve. Their first recommendation is for the district to join the State prescription drug plan under the new "mini-pooling" law passed with Union members' support, which will help reduce the cost of providing employees access to life-saving medications.

CSEA/SEIU Local 2001 represents 25,000 active and retired public sector workers serving in state and municipal agencies, as well as local school districts across Connecticut. Visit www.seiu2001.org online for more information about how its members are working to deliver quality services to students in our state's K-12 public schools and regional educational service centers.

 Gail Gondyke's Statement for Public Comment at June 29 Hebron Board of Education Meeting