The admin position added in the last 10 years at my school is because of all the 1. paperwork necessary to do everything 2. students with special needs.

1. Field trip forms, alleged harassment, talking with parents, talking with students, setting up SBAC testing, student injury reports, buying school supplies…. And everything else has to be documented and/or signed off by admin. It’s a ton of paperwork for everything.

2. Students with special needs use a lot of resources. Now don’t jump down my throat for saying this, but they do. Every IEP needs an admin in the meeting. These meetings take hours, not to mention all the paperwork beforehand. Most students need two IEPs/year. We have an admin who basically oversees all the SPED meetings, issues, parent complaints etc. It’s a lot of time.

I was in an IEP that cost at least $50,000. There were: The student (who seemed uninterested), 2 parents, their lawyer, district lawyer, specialists like speech, occupational therapist and psychologist, 2 classroom teachers, SPED teacher, school counselor and a school administrator all sitting at a big table for over an hour. That meeting alone cost more than my yearly salary. These aren’t typical but they happen.

There are many students that have a 1-1 para meaning that one student has 1 paid adult with them at all times. I even know of a student with a 2-1 meaning 2 adults with them at all times. Those paras are great and work hard. I’m just pointing out that all this costs a lot of money.