To the SPPS Senior Executive Leadership Team and the SPPS Board of Education:

We, the undersigned parents, teachers, staff and community members of Crossroads Elementary, firmly petition the district to postpone the planned loss of our Assistant Principal position. Removing this critical administrative role would severely undermine school safety, staff stability, and our ability to effectively operate our unique dual programs and year-round schedule. We urgently request this decision be reconsidered for the following reasons:

School Safety and Climate

The Assistant Principal plays an invaluable role in maintaining a positive school environment and ensuring the safety of our students and staff. Their presence allows for consistent discipline, mediation of conflicts, and oversight of safety protocols. As a Title 1 school with more than 85% of students receiving free and reduced lunches, Crossroads has a higher need for administrative support; losing this position risks further diminishing the orderly climate our children need to learn and thrive.

Staff Retention and Support

Our Assistant Principal provides vital support, guidance and leadership to our teaching staff. They help balance workloads, mediate issues, and ensure teachers have the resources needed to excel in their roles. Removing this position will overburden administrators and make it far more difficult to retain experienced, high-quality teachers.

Unique Program and Schedule Needs

Crossroads operates dual Montessori and Science programs on a year-round schedule. This complex structure requires excellent administrative bandwidth that cannot be adequately met with just one Principal. The Assistant Principal role is essential for coordinating these special programs and schedules effectively. We are currently about to navigate what will likely be the final school year in our year-round schedule, and the loss of our AP will be premature with respect to the duties that are required for administering our Intersession programming. Additionally, as a city-wide magnet school, Crossroads has higher needs with respect to its transportation and busing; our AP handles a high level of bus behavior management for 13 buses and coordinates more than 9 bus aides to support our students to/from school each day.

For each of these reasons, removing our AP so abruptly will harm our programming and certainly impact enrollment for Crossroads and its existential future within the district.

For the successful education of our children and the wellbeing of the entire Crossroads community, we respectfully urge you to reconsider the district’s decision to remove the Assistant Principal from Crossroads Elementary in July 2024, and instead postpone that loss to the end of the 2024-2025 school year (August of 2025). This extended transition will enable Crossroads to navigate a final year of Intersession programming and establish new workload distribution, and will be a more sensible approach to meeting the district's need of reducing expenses in response to the long-predicted budget shortfall.

Thank you for your consideration.