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Canfield suspends 3 contracts
By Elise Franco
Canfield
The Canfield school board suspended three teachers’ contracts due to the elimination of unneeded positions.
The board voted 4-1 during its Wednesday meeting to approve the suspension of three licensed teachers’ contracts due to a reduction in force. Board member Craig Olson voted no.
Superintendent Dante Zambrini said a decline in enrollment in half-day kindergarten, the fourth-grade and middle-school music, paired with financial constraints made it necessary to cut one position in each of those class levels.
Zambrini said the employees affected aren’t necessarily the ones who had those positions because contract suspensions are based on seniority in terms of licensing.
He said they first cut the appropriate positions and then went through each licensed employee in kindergarten through eighth grade to determine whose contracts would be suspended.
“We do a reduction in force on positions, not people,” he said. “We eliminated the position first, then we go back and look at who has the least-senior license.”
Zambrini wouldn’t identify the teachers affected by name because they hadn’t been notified as of the meeting, but he said they were two elementary school tutors and a Canfield Village Middle School music teacher.
He said the three will be placed on a contract suspension list for up to two years. If positions open through retirement those on the list could be brought back.