A reorganization of the Laboratory Schools finance and operations department Jan. 17 included the elimination of three employee positions. The department oversees non-instructional activities such as technology, extended day and Summer Lab.

Carol Rubin joined the administration as Associate Director of Schools in April and facilitated this reorganization. She sent an email message to all employees explaining the changes made in the reorganization, but this email did not include the names of the three employees who were let go. The Midway has confirmed that the three employees are Gerardo Galvan, Ned Reece and Rob Koontz.

Mr. Reece was the associate director of family life programs and worked for Lab for 18 years, Mr. Koontz was the manager of information systems and worked for Lab for 19 years, and Mr. Galvan was the manager of Gordon Parks Arts Hall for four years.

Ms. Rubin opened her email by explaining that she had met with many teachers and staff as well as finance and operations leaders to learn “how we support teachers, students, and families,” and “see how we can do it more effectively.” She said the goal of the process was “to understand how we support the work and mission of the school, keep Lab safe, and strengthen the programs for which we are responsible.” 

Ms. Rubin said in an interview with the Midway that this reorganization had been in-the-making since she came in April.

Ms. Rubin emphasized the importance of this process being cost-neutral, meaning the reorganization did not affect the school’s expenses or budget. She said, “in our assessment, it was very important that it remain cost-neutral. Lab has a finite budget.” 

According to the email sent to employees, financial transparency will also be a focus for the finance and operations department moving forward.

Despite the cost neutrality of this process, the school has experienced a six-figure budget deficit, according to a memo in January published by the Faculty Association.

Ms. Rubin expressed excitement about benefits from the reorganization.

“The oversight and the management in general is going to be much better,” she said. “In technology, in our IS group, we went from having kind of what’s called a generalist model to a specialist model where we’re going to have when people call in and teachers need support, we’re going to have specialists.”

Junior Emelia Piane, who uses the recording studio and the sound booth frequently, said Mr. Galvan had been essential to her understanding of the tools in each space. She expressed anxiousness about trying new things in these spaces with Mr. Galvan gone.

“If things were to go wrong then I wouldn’t like necessarily feel like I could get help to fix that just because there was already an established relationship with Mr. Galvan,” she said. “Also if I did want to try something new or needed something explained to me, he would explain pretty much everything in-depth very quickly and in like a very teacherly way that made a lot of sense.”

Ms. Rubin said responsibilities for each eliminated position had been reassigned under different people, and she emphasized the importance of positions being eliminated instead of teachers being fired. 

“All the positions we have are providing services that we needed, and when we did this very in-depth analysis, those particular positions were not the best suited to serve the organization,” Ms. Rubin said. “So they were positions that were eliminated.”