School districts look at cuts

POLSON — News of pink slips brought about 90 concerned teachers and parents to the Polson School board meeting Monday night in the Linderman library.

After almost two and a half hours of discussion between the administration, board and public, the elementary district school board failed to reach a decision on the superintendent’s recommendation to not renew the contracts of six non-tenured teachers and seven paraprofessionals.

That board split their votes three-three, effectively tabling the proposed measure until next month. A seventh board member who would have provided the tie-breaking vote, was not present for the meeting.

Proposed cuts to the high school district, namely cutting one paraprofessional, narrowly passed the high school district school board’s vote, four-two.

At the start of the meeting, chairperson Theresa Taylor suggested the board move up the personnel report on the agenda, citing her belief that most attendees were at the meeting as a result of this item.

Both rumors of layoffs, which were discussed with affected staff on Friday, and confusion about the future of the district’s budget, did indeed prove to be the key issues for those in attendance.

Superintendent David Whitesell said the meeting was pushed back a week from its originally scheduled date with hopes that by April 18 Montana legislature would have issued a definitive budget; his hopes were to no avail.

Monday night, Whitesell tried to explain the reasoning behind his suggested cuts.

The worst case scenario, Whitesell said, was that the school would receive no additional funding from the state. Even with no staff salary increases, the administration projected that the elementary district would be left with a deficit of $532,678, the high school district $97,597.

They also crunched numbers for the happier scenarios of a one percent and 1.9 percent increase.

“We looked at it from the fiscal perspective of each building,” Whitesell said. “Basing our decision on the worst-case scenario and understanding what the other districts have done, we tried to make the best decision.”

That decision was the non-renewal of six non-tenured teachers and eight paraprofessionals, a recommendation echoed by many neighboring districts who are facing the same budget issues.

Both audience and board members expressed surprise and displeasure at the cuts.

Trustee Caryl Cox told Whitesell she was frustrated that his solution to budget woes included cutting staff.

“You told us, ‘we are confident we can make these cuts without a reduction in force,’ Cox said about comments made by Whitesell at a previous board meeting. “I thought you’d try to do these with cuts in nooks and crannies.”

“There are not enough nooks and crannies in the elementary budget to cut in the neighborhood of $500,000,” Whitesell responded, adding that the proposed cuts do not constitute a reduction in force, a term only applicable to tenured staff.

Kelly Bagnell, also a board-member, asked Whitesell why the administration had notified teachers of recommendation for non-renewal in mid-April when such recommendations do not legally have to be made until June 1.

“Why not wait?” Bagnell asked about issuing the recommendations for non-renewal before having a definitive budget. “I don’t think it’s fair to teachers.”

“I disagree,” Whitesell responded. “Employees are being let go in Missoula and Kalispell. I think our employees with a chance of non-renewal need to know as soon as possible so they have a fair chance.”

He added that the decision was a difficult, but necessary one.

“The numbers described to us that we needed to make recommendations,” Whitesell said. “The amount is more than cuts to art supplies or paper can do.”

Both Bagnell and Cox expressed dismay that they had not been made aware of the cuts earlier. Trustee Bob Hanson, however, argued that his fellow board-members had not been paying attention and that it had been apparent for some time that personnel cutbacks would be necessary.

John Peterson, the teachers union representative, questioned the board about burgeoning class size, an issue much discussed by the board in the past.

In response, Whitesell admitted that with staff cuts, teachers could face larger class sizes, even classes that could potentially exceed the limits required for accreditation. In that case, Whitesell said, the administration would have to consider admitting fewer out of district students.

Several audience members asked about the potential to make cuts to programs instead of staff; suggestions included cutting sports programs, including football, and the American Indian Education program.

“We are a service industry. The programs are people,” Whitesell said.

Taylor added that the bulk of the budget, 88 percent, goes to staff salaries, making it the logical place for cuts.

Melissa Martin, a non-tenured teacher who learned of her recommendation for non-renewal on Friday, brought her concerns and frustration to the board members Monday evening.

“The whole Spanish program will feel the effects and it’s a trickledown effect,” Martin, a middle school Spanish teacher said. “I just don’t see how this is going to help our kids in the future.”

Martin’s sentiments were echoed by a large number of concerned teachers and parents throughout the heated meeting.

After fielding more than two hours of public and board comments, Taylor summarized her view of the unfortunate situation.

“For the last couple years we haven’t had to make the cuts that neighboring districts have had to,” Taylor said. “We’ve done a lot with attrition, but with the budgets we’re looking at this year we don’t have that luxury.”

The discussion of the recommended cuts for the elementary district will continue at the next board meeting.

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Charlo eliminates non-tenured positions

CHARLO — About 15 members of the public showed up to the Charlo board of education meeting held Tuesday night in the high school library.

“This is the unfortunate part of my job,” Superintendent Paul Jenkins said as way of introducing his recommendation that all non-tenured teacher positions not be renewed.

The cuts, deemed necessary due to budget constraints, affected four teachers.

Jenkins read the names of the four teachers individually; the board voted to not renew each one.

Teachers and parents in the audience remained quiet through the proceedings. Following the vote, one attendee asked about the possibility of rehiring the non-renewed teachers should the school be awarded more state funding than anticipated.

Jenkins said that was a possibility that could be examined down the road.

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As of Monday evening, Montana state legislators had four days remaining in the regular legislative session to pass a budget.