Springfield School district will eliminate 36 positions at the end of the month as it faces a mid-year shortfall. The cuts, which were approved Monday, frustrated teachers, parents and students.
The district will layoff 27 employees and eliminate some vacant positions. Those cuts will impact school schedules and cause some employees to change buildings according to the district, and cause other staffing changes visible to students.
In testimony to the school board and superintendent Todd Hamilton Monday, Springfield High School student Violett Lloyd said the district should have seen this coming, and laying off teachers in the middle of the year is the worst outcome for everyone.
“I’m very disappointed,” she said. “This entire process has been so draining for our teachers, I believe there has to be a better way to cut money than losing the best new teachers we have."Springfield School District leaders said the budget they adopted over the summer didn’t account for cost of living adjustments it was negotiating with unions. Two unions have reached resolutions with the district and one, Springfield Education Association, is still negotiating.
Board Member Nicole DeGraff said Springfield’s shortfall is a part of a statewide problem lawmakers have known about for years.
“I will continue to advocate for sustainable funding solutions so that decisions like this don’t have to be made,” DeGraff said. “Students deserve stability and our educators deserve a lot less uncertainty.”
Springfield is also struggling with declining enrollment and high pension costs. It, along with many other districts, will likely consider another round of cuts in the spring.
During Monday’s meeting, Springfield Schools Chief Operations Officer Brett Yancey said the district was on track to spend $7 million in reserves to get through the year. He said he told school board members before the budget was passed that it may need to make staffing reductions to pay for cost of living adjustments.“This is following our budget appropriation and the parameters established by this school board purely understanding that reductions in force were going to be necessary,” Yancy said.
Two school board members, Jonathan Light and Amber Langworthy voted against the cut. Some other board members said they had reservations, but felt they had no good options but to vote for the cuts.
Several staff members including Springfield High School teacher Laura Farrelly said other districts have tried more ideas to balance their budget, such as Eugene 4J’s move to scale back college readiness program Avid, and cut technology. She said the district should have planned and instituted a hiring freeze if they were worried about a gap.
“Past administrations balanced the budget with creative solutions,” Farrelly said.
