Twenty-two to 25 teachers and certified staff will lose their jobs under the new budget proposal being outlined at the Carson City School Board meeting tonight.
"That will be district-wide," Superintendent Richard Stokes said. "It will mostly come from the elementary schools, but teachers and certified staff from all other levels will also be looked at."
Faced with the prospect of cutting $7.2 million from next year's budget, district officials compiled a list of possible savings.
The top of that list was to close an elementary school, which would save about $3.5 million. District officials reasoned that with nearly 1,000 fewer students than in 2003, there was no need for six elementary schools.
However, during a series of community and school board meetings, there was a public outcry against closing a school.
Instead, the district has drafted an alternate plan, referred to as Plan B, to cut costs elsewhere.
"The biggest chunk of money represents a reduction in force," Stokes said Monday.
In preparation for the meeting, he sent an e-mail to school board members explaining that he would not be seeking approval from them at this stage in the process.
"My reason for doing this is to maintain consistency in the way the Board deals with management practices," he wrote in the e-mail. "Since moving to the District in 2001, I have observed the Board maintaining this protocol by asserting that educational, operational, and employment decisions are the function of the staff."
He wrote that keeping the item limited to discussion rather than action would help move the process along in the long run. The school board is required to approve the final budget submitted to the state in May.
"I'm afraid we could find ourselves in a difficult position where individual Board Members might like parts of 'Option B' and dislike other parts. In a situation like this, we could find ourselves in a position of extending the process and possibly polarizing the community even further," Stokes wrote.
Stokes said he sent the e-mail to clarify the process for new board members.
However, the e-mail was leaked to some parents and staff in the district.
Monique Giron, mother of a third-grader at Fremont Elementary School, said she was concerned when she read the e-mail. She drafted a response to school board trustees.
"You as an elected Board Member have been elected to address the issues that are currently facing the district. To hand over the details of 'Plan B' to the district is to hand over your role as a Board Member," Giron wrote.
Norm Scoggin, in his 11th year as a school board trustee, said he found the e-mail to be in line with standard practices.
"Everyone expressed their opinions where we wanted to go," he said. "Now it's up to (Stokes) to work out the details. All he's doing in that letter is fulfilling what we indicated we wanted."
Scoggin said if the board were to micromanage every fine detail, it would be "counterproductive."
Erin Lehman, volunteer coordinator at Fremont Elementary School and mother of children who attend there, said she was also upset upon reading the e-mail.
A conversation with associate superintendent Susan Keema, however, alleviated her concerns.
"At first I was really panicked," she said. "It seemed like the district was trying to leave the school board out of the whole process."
When she learned the board would have final approval, she reconsidered.
"I'm actually very pleased with the way the school district is handling things right now," she said. "I'm just really glad they put together a Plan B. It shows they are listening to the community and they are taking our concerns seriously. I applaud them for that."
As part of Plan B, the district would hold off until next year in deciding whether to close a school, but would move forward with plans to switch Fremont from a year-round calendar to a traditional schedule.
Giron said both decisions should be postponed until the new configuration of elementary schools is figured out.
"It doesn't make sense (for) Fremont to undergo two major changes in the next few years," she said.
- Contact reporter Teri Vance at tvance@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1272.
If you go
WHAT: Carson City School Board meeting
WHEN: 7 tonight
WHERE: Sierra Room, Carson City Community Center, 851 E. William St.
WHAT: Carson City School Board meeting
WHEN: 7 tonight
WHERE: Sierra Room, Carson City Community Center, 851 E. William St.
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment