Layoff notifications for next year delivered Friday
(Published Friday, February 16, 2007 11:07:17 AM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
By Chris Schultz Gazette staff
WALWORTH-Big Foot teacher contract negotiations are over for now.
Big Foot teacher layoff notifications begin today.
Michael Manghera, Big Foot teachers union president, said teachers who may be laid off at the end of this school year will be notified today by the school administration.
"There are going to be staff cuts," Manghera said on Thursday.
By state law, teachers who may lose their jobs must be notified by Feb. 28, Manghera said. The school board has until March 15 to make layoffs official.
Tom Nykl, Big Foot superintendent, said the teacher layoffs are just the start of cuts that Big Foot will have to make to keep its budget under state levy limits. The board wants to cut between $240,000 and $300,000 from expenses in this year's budget, Nykl said.
While not saying how many individuals will receive layoff notices, Nykl said it's the equivalent of about three full-time teachers. The school has the equivalent of 44 full-time teachers.
In late March, the school board will take up non-teaching staff cuts and program cuts, Nykl said. The non-teaching staff layoffs will be decided in late March or early April. Program cuts will be voted on by early June, he said.
A committee of residents and school staff is looking at district finances and building needs. It also may recommend that the district go to the voters in 2008 to ask for an increase in the district's levy limits.
