Friday, March 11, 2005
The superintendent estimates 22 to 25 positions will have to be cut.
SALEM -- The city school board voted Thursday to keep the doors of Prospect Elementary and the middle school open. But the district now faces cutting 20 teacher positions to deal with a budget shortfall.
The board voted 4-1 to keep Prospect open and 3-2 to keep the middle school open. The board was considering a proposal to close one or both schools to help erase a projected $1.2 million deficit in the 2005-06 budget.
But teacher layoffs, even if the buildings had been closed, would have been needed to reduce costs, said board president Marguerite Miller, in explaining why she voted to keep the schools open.
"The savings of $1.2 million can only and must be accomplished through the elimination of jobs," she said. "Eighty-five percent of the total district budget is spent on personnel."
Quick meeting
It did not take long for the board, which met at Salem High School, to make its decision. The meeting took less than 30 minutes. No one from the community addressed the board.
Some employees were happy with the news, especially Lori Brooks, a secretary at Prospect Elementary and also president of the classified employees union.
"This is great news," she said after the meeting. "[The superintendent] did not show any huge cost savings by closing schools. We realize they have to make cuts, but closing schools and hurting kids is a little much."
Superintendent Dr. David Brobeck said he supports the board's decision and will meet with administrators this morning to discuss staffing issues and cuts. He said they have been meeting all along, knowing that reducing staff by not renewing contracts was inevitable.
"I would estimate we're talking about 22-25 positions with only one or two of them being nonteaching positions," Brobeck said.
What it means to the district:
*Increased class sizes.
*The elimination of certain programs.
*A restructuring of delivery services to schools.
*And buildings will be more empty.
"We're going to make it work," he said. "We are prepared for it."
When contacted at home after the meeting, Buckeye Elementary Principal Dennis Niederhiser did not want to comment on the board's decision.
Teacher Dave Warren, who represents the teachers union, was not available for comment.
Brobeck said he was not sure when the next board meeting would be because of spring break. Miller said the decision is done, and it's time to move on with the cuts.
"Staffing will be up to the principals and the superintendent, but we will want to have some input to make sure the are cuts are spread out [among all the schools]," Miller said.
Miller spent time addressing the possibility of moving toward a "neighborhood school" concept and keeping kids in one school from grades K-6 before going to middle school. By closing schools, she said kids would have bounced around too much.
"There is mounting evidence to suggest that moving students from building to building during their elementary years negatively impacts student achievement," she said.
Also
In other board action, the board voted 4-0, with one abstention by board member Sean Hart, to accept Doug Phillips' contract as assistant boys track coach. At the board's last meeting, members voted to deny him a contact because Hart said he already made too much money. Phillips is a district employee as well as varsity football coach.
Also, one of the two candidates to be interviewed on Wednesday for the superintendent's job has dropped out of contention, Miller said. She heard the news Thursday morning that he accepted a job elsewhere. That leaves Steve Larcomb of Wyoming as the only candidate getting a second interview. He will meet community members and also some students.
Superintendent Brobeck is retiring in July after nearly five years on the job. He plans to do consultant work and write a book.