A budget plan to cut some librarians and other support staff at the London District Catholic School Board was put on hold Monday night. Trustees voted to send the budget back to the administration and the CEO for further review. This decision followed a protest, where dozens gathered at the board offices on Wellington Road South. The group was upset about the potential loss of 18.8 full-time equivalent librarians and, they contend, plans to cut or reclassify some cafeteria workers and chaplain positions. CUPE 4186 president Tracey Cooper maintains students will suffer if the cuts go ahead. “So, a school that might have a five-day-per-week librarian right now may only have two or three days in the fall, which is severely hurtful to the students of this board.” Cooper maintains librarians offer literacy and direction to students. One active librarian, Darian Lajoie Paquette, told the crowd that they also offer sanctuary. “We are often one of the most accessible adults in the school. Librarians are our community builders.” St. Thomas Aquinas Student Ella Petticrew, who joined her friends at the rally, agreed. “It (libraries) is also one of the only, if not the only, communal spaces that we have for students in the school. So, when I saw that, and I saw that these librarians would be laid off, I knew that that meant that that would affect us in the school.” The message at the board gates was heard loudly inside the board offices. For more than an hour, trustees spoke widely against the proposal, with trustee Mary Holmes going as far as to say, “it is disturbing,” that it has come to this. Ultimately, they asked the administration to come back with funding alternatives by the end of the week. The budget must be presented by June 30. Still, with the CEO holding new powers, it is not clear if things will change. Some protesters – and a few trustees - maintained the Doug Ford PC government holds all the cards. “The education system is in danger of being destroyed by this government. Take action! Stand up. Have a voice!” pleaded a union leader representing workers in the Thames Valley District School Board, who attended the rally to offer her support.
