Future concerns Fremont teachers

Married five years, Jennifer Locke and her husband, Joel, decided it was the right time to start a family. They were excited to find out they were having a baby boy in June.

"Perfect teacher timing," Fremont Elementary School kindergarten teacher Jennifer Locke called it.

But now she's not so sure.

Facing budget cuts of historic proportions, the Carson City School District is considering changing the district's only year-round school to a traditional schedule.

In the process, it is likely teachers would go about six weeks without pay or health insurance.

"Instead of being excited, now there's worry," Locke said. "Not just about being a first-time mom, but I have all these financial worries. I feel really scared. I cry every time I talk about it."

Although all teachers are paid for 185 days of work, staff at Fremont is paid August through July. All others are paid September through August. If the school switches to the traditional schedule, teachers will have about a six-week gap in pay and insurance coverage.

Third-grade teacher Marlo Corletto said she won't be able to pay her mortgage if that happens. She needs more time to prepare.

"I guess we thought if they were ever going to change our schedule, we would have had a lot more warning," she said.

Both Corletto and Locke said they had offers from other districts, but chose to teach at Fremont specifically because of the year-round schedule. For Corletto, whose husband is a firefighter in Las Vegas, the schedule allows them to have 10 days off together every three months.

Parents at the school also prefer the schedule, having voted 79 percent in favor of the year-round calendar last year.

However, the most important consideration, said third-grade teacher Debbie Mariskanish, is the children.

"I really believe in this school," she said. "It works. It's what's best for our students."

She said special-education students and English-language learners particularly benefit by receiving year-round instruction without the long summer break.

A representative to the teachers union, Mariskanish said she only heard of the prospects through word-of-mouth from teachers in other schools.

She invited Superintendent Richard Stokes to address staff there a couple of weeks ago.

But, Mariskanish said, it still wasn't clear how the switch would save the district a substantial amount of money, other than a $180,000 one-time savings.

"I have tried to get a breakdown from the district how much more it costs to keep Fremont on its schedule, if there is extra cost," she said. "No one has been able to answer me. I've been asking since November."

Stokes said there are several aspects, including transportation and duplication of some services. He plans to have a list of possible changes and cuts available during the board meetings Feb. 10 and 24 with coinciding dollar amounts. He said parents, staff and community members will be welcome to take part in that process.

Although teachers at Fremont say they need answers quickly, Stokes said the district is still uncertain what to expect from the Legislature.

"It's a tricky situation that the K-12 districts are facing," he said. "We know we're going to need to cut, but we don't know yet how much that will be. It's a little frustrating because we don't have all the answers."

And changing Fremont's schedule, he said, is not certain.

"There really hasn't been a decision yet," he said. "We're still talking theory."

- Contact reporter Teri Vance at tvance@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1272.