CVSD to lose 19 teaching spots

After four hours of discussion, Central Valley school trustees approved a budget plan that calls for cutting $1.5 million by reducing the number of teaching positions by 19 and slashing the number of classified staff hours.

The board looked at information from each school about where teachers and staff would be reduced and by how much. Each school principal submitted a narrative that detailed what programs would be impacted.

“This puts it together for me,” said board member Anne Long. “This lets me see it wasn’t arbitrary.”

Board member Keith Clark said the budget cuts are necessary and that district staff has done a good job figuring out what should be reduced. “It’s not a fun thing,” he said. “I don’t think we can micromanage that.”

Board Vice President Cindy McMullen, who led the meeting in the absence of President Tom Dingus, said she wanted to make sure the board was making the right decision. The vote to approve the cuts is only the beginning of the district’s budget process that will end in August. She asked staff to look for ways to restore some of the cuts as the budget gets finalized. “I know there isn’t a rock that hasn’t been unturned in the district, but every once and a while a flower pops up,” she said.

The loss of teaching positions is expected to be covered by retirements and resignations. It’s anticipated that some teachers will be transferred to fill needed positions.

The original proposal called for a cut of 58 hours of basic education classified staff time per day, which worked out to six hours at each high school, two hours at each middle school and two hours at each elementary. That category includes secretaries, media clerks and supervisory aides.

The actual number of hours cut at each school varies widely and some schools, like McDonald Elementary, will actually see a small increase. “Some of the schools didn’t use their entire allocation,” said Assistant Superintendent Lise Louer.

But all the elementary schools are losing para-educators paid for by the Learning Assistance Program. It is a state funded grant that allows for targeted assistance in reading, math and written language for students who score below grade level on district assessments or the WASL. The para-educators often work with students in small groups or one-on-one. Other para-educators are also being reduced at some schools.

That cut will have an impact on students struggling with math and reading, the school principals said in the narratives they wrote for the board. “We will serve about 35 less students in reading support next year,” wrote South Pines Elementary Principal Walt Clemons. “This service is being provided as individual and small group instruction in 20- to 30-minute sections. The LAP portion will impact about 15 first- and second-grade students who receive small group help in math. Overall we will have about a 40 percent reduction in services to at risk students in reading and math.”

“Grade level support will be prioritized, mostly likely leaving intermediate grades with little or no support,” wrote Greenacres Elementary School Principal Terry Ellifritz. “Reduction in supervisory hours could possible create safety concerns on the playground, after school and during lunch.”

The middle schools and high schools are seeing an increase in LAP funding for teaching positions, but are still feeling the pain of cuts in other areas. The high schools lost Promoting Acadamic Success funding that paid for one teacher at each school. University High School will lose 5.5 full-time equivalent teaching positions overall, partly because of projected declining enrollment. Principal Daryl Hart expects to fill the hole by having some teachers give up their prep period for one trimester of the year to teach a class.

Central Valley High School will actually add 1.65 FTE teachers, but the school is also expecting a higher enrollment. “We don’t have the luxury of offering classes to less than 20 students” as they have in the past, said Principal Mike Hittle. That means that small classes like AP physics and advanced art might have to be cut.

“I know we all have to feel the pain,” Hittle wrote in his narrative, “and I am sure we can get by and support our kids, but as you can see this will cut into the quality of service.”