School climate staff are why my kid comes to school every day – we can’t afford to lose them

When my son was in kindergarten at Anna L. Lingelbach School in Germantown last year, I asked him how many teacher gifts we needed to gather for the holidays. I was expecting him to name his homeroom teacher and maybe a classroom aide. Instead, he listed over twelve names.

He was naming the climate staff.

He calls them his “lunch and recess teachers.” I came to learn they are among the most essential people in his school, helping all school functions run smoothly, assisting teachers who are often inundated with tasks, and establishing caring relationships with students every single day.

And now, unless the rideshare tax is passed, 119 climate staff positions will be eliminated from our public schools. Sadly, district families like mine have sadly become used to sustaining our patience and getting creative around the budget-based burdens of poorly functioning bathrooms, reduced maintenance services, and minimal enrichment programming. Communities across the cities are now grappling with the prospect of school closures in 2027. If we’re closing schools, we will not and cannot accept losing our teachers and staff in the schools that remain open. The School District of Philadelphia has highly motivated, invested, and talented people, who rise to the occasion every day for our kids at Lingelbach.

Cutting climate staff is the very opposite direction we need to go – instead we should be investing in this critical workforce. Climate staff, many of whom are lifelong Philadelphians and public school parents, play a vital role in mediating conflicts, preventing bullying, and creating positive environments for our kids so they can focus on learning. Climate staff are the eyes and ears of the hallways and the schoolyard. The fewer climate staff we have in our schools, the more likely students are to experience bullying.

As a clinical social worker, I have evaluated many high school students for Intensive Behavioral Health Services. In recent years, I’ve met with so many young people who have a history of being bullied and are now developing mental health issues that impact their overall functioning. Far too many of these incredibly resilient young people also have histories of domestic violence, community violence, and loss. School is often their safe place and the people in the school are what makes it safe. During every evaluation, I ask the young person to identify up to three adults they can turn to during a crisis, and almost every single time they name a teacher or a staff member from their school.

At Lingelbach, our school community has rallied in support of a teacher we are at risk of losing — a teacher whose holistic approach has created an inclusive space for neurodivergent children, and who offers powerful representation as our school’s only Black male teacher. That is one story. Every teacher and staff member the district may lose has a story and so many children whose lives depend on them.

Philadelphia’s Mayor has proposed a ride-share and cell phone tower tax that could provide $50.4 million in funding to save 340 teacher and staff positions at 206 schools. This is a meaningful solution to an immediate crisis, and it deserves support. But we need more. Our children deserve schools that reflect the wonderful potential inside each and every one of them. As citizens, we will do our job to advocate for increased, stable funding from the state, but I urge our city leaders to prioritize the establishment of increased, reliable local funding for our schools now.

The instinct to guide and protect our young is an essential part of who we are. When structural barriers stand in the way of that instinct, it is deeply unsettling, to put it mildly. The people who show up for Philadelphia’s children, in classrooms and hallways and schoolyards, deserve to have their city show up for them.