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South Range cuts three teachers ; first "phase" of reducing costs
By ROBERT CONNELLY
NORTH LIMA
The South Range Board of Education unanimously suspended the contract of two full-time teachers and one part-time teacher Monday night.
Those moves are the first phase of cost-reduction measures the South Range school district is implementing.
These changes can be reversed if voters approve a levy on the May 5 ballot as the district is projecting a deficit of more than $400,000 for the 2016-17 school year.
The teachers recently were given a verbal notice by Superintendent Dennis Dunham.
They are Dana Veneskey, an elementary-school music teacher; Mark Giesy, a middle-school industrial technology, or Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), teacher; and Christine Yukech, a part-time science teacher.
These are effective for the 2015-16 school year.
When asked if Giesy’s departure means the end to a middle-school STEM program, Dunham said, “It’s nonexistent.” He said he and the board would look at trying to keep the STEM program with current staff, but didn’t know how that would look.
“Everything that we do affects kids in one way or another,” Dunham said.
The staff cuts and the potential for phase-two cuts were discussed at length during a long public-comment session.
Parents and residents asked several questions, including if teachers should contribute more to their health-care plans.
“That has to be negotiated and will continue to be a topic of conversation,” said Ralph Wince, board president.
Residents questioned why a bonus was given to teachers this school year.
District officials have said that teachers had four-consecutive years of a pay freeze and that bonus amounted to $1,500 for teachers who qualified.
Phase two of cuts includes looking at programs and extracurricular activities, such as band and athletics.
“Anything that is nonmandated can be put on the chopping block,” Wince said. “The least impact on students is what we looked at for phase one.”
“We need to consider all of our programs. ... Everything that we have that makes South Range, South Range,” Dunham said. “We would see a lot of change that would potentially be devastating.”
In other business, board members approved open enrollment for the 2015-16 school year and a new valedictorian and salutatorian system, in which every student has to take certain classes to qualify for those rankings.
That goes into effect for the class of 2020, or current seventh-grade students.
The board also approved changing the start date of school next year. South Range students will have six full days of class before the start of the Canfield Fair.
Classes will begin Aug. 24. Students will have Sept. 1-7 off for the fair.
That change has been made due to the district wanting more instructional time before state tests begin.
Graduation would be May 28, with the rest of the calendar similar to past years.