My name is Dr. Alex Dakessian, and I am standing here as one of the 120 assistant principals whose positions were cut yesterday.
We were told that schools with fewer than 250 students would lose their “foundational AP” next year. I don’t know what research that threshold was rooted in, but I can tell you it isn't rooted in the reality of my school. On the 20th day of school, we didn't have 246 students; we had 317. We had 246 students in K-8 and 71 students in Pre-K. I ask you to reflect on the message we send to our families when we tell them their Pre-K children simply “don’t count” in the eyes of this district.
If we’re focusing on numbers.. Let me give you a few... At McCutcheon, we manage 2 non-adjacent buildings, a few blocks apart. Think about our emergencies, in which I have become a track star running between buildings. We now have 90 Pre-K students, 6 Pre-K teachers, and 7 Pre-K SECAs.
We also have 5 cluster programs, we have over 40 ESPs and 38 CTU members to evaluate. That is over 150 mandated evaluations. I have also entered 345 ASPEN incidents and scheduled 485 classes in ASPEN. I have helped case manage our 131 special education students, learned to communicate with our 20 non-verbal students using AAC devices, translate for our 134 English Learners, and gotten food and bedding for our 70 STLS students.
I managed the CIWP priorities that moved our school from Targeted to Commendable. If you don't understand the "lift" this requires, ask any of the 630 principals you just devalued to observe a root-cause meeting—just don't rely on the AI-generated feedback used to evaluate our hard work.
Yesterday’s decision didn't just hurt 120 people; it told every school leader that our work—and our students—are worth less than we thought. Telling principals they can “liquidate” an AP for $100,000 is a slap in the face. Our students deserve better than a budget built on arbitrary math. I implore you to reject this proposal. If you need help balancing the books, ask the leaders who manage their own abysmal budgets every year; we continuously find solutions that aren’t this detrimental to our children.
