Teachers can breathe a sigh of relief this year. Spring is usually pink slip season when districts look at staff contracts and potential layoffs for the coming year. And with the financial storm ahead, school personnel were probably keeping a cautious eye on the horizon. But as of this week, the Lake Orion School District has plans to layoff only one staff member.
‘We did end up displacing and laying off staff,? said Superintendent Ken Gutman. ‘Two reasons: financial and programming changes.?
Other teachers and instructors will be ‘displaced,? though they’ll still have jobs, Gutman said. Four KinderPlus instructors? positions will be rearranged in the district since KinderPlus will be replaced by all-day, every day kindergarten.
But this doesn’t leave programming cuts off the hook.
‘We’re highly dependent on state funding so we’re prepared for the worst-case scenario,? Gutman said.
Several years ago, the district created emergency plans in case of severe funding losses. The time has come to ‘pull those plans off the shelf,? according to the school board.
The district came up with two budget-friendly plans. One would change the high school’s block schedule (similar to a college class schedule) to a modified-block schedule (less effective for student retention, but also less expensive).
The other plan would modify the middle school concept. The current program allows for a team of core curriculum instructors to teach the same group of students, making learning more consistent. The change would remove the team and free up funds.
‘It’s more expensive to do both of these and we’re one of the last holdouts in the county to do both,? said Gutman. ‘Both are effective, but the question becomes ‘what can we afford???
In order to put the plans into action, the district will have to revamp entire curriculums, according to Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Heidi Kast.
The administration also says there may be more cuts in ancillary programs like life management class and choir at middle school level.
‘There’s nothing that’s easy to cut,? Gutman said.
Boardmember Jim Weidman is urging the board to take even closer looks at pinching pennies in the budget. He offered the idea of a two-year budget to better prepare for the future.
‘We have fiduciary responsibilities as board members,? said Weidman. ‘We haven’t faced anything like this before. For board purposes, (if) we establish a two year budget that looks forward based on the best assumptions that we have, it at least gives us time to think further down the road so that when we look at 2011 we’ve already given some thought to what we’re doing.?
In the meantime, the superintendent asks residents to keep faith in the proactive and progressive board’s actions.
‘No need to panic at this point. I’m confident that we’ll make decisions that are the best for our children,? he added.