Easton Schools Identify 160 Possible Job Cuts

A study by the Easton Area School District has identified 160 possible job cuts, some of which would eliminate entire programs in certain schools.

Yet both the district and the teachers union said Wednesday they were confident they could come up with a plan to avoid such measures. 

"This is something that we had to do, not something we wanted to do," said school board president Kerry Myers. "We still plan on sitting down and talking. Please don’t misunderstand what we put out there."

Last month, the board asked Superintendent Susan McGinley to identify possible job cuts as a way to make up a in the 2011-2012 budget. McGinley's report to the board found 160 possible "budget reductions," which would save the district $14.9 million. In the interim, the board has adopted a preliminary budget that is balanced using money from the fund balance.

Among the positions identified in the study:

• The elementary schools would lose 10 classroom teachers, three school counselors, and four learning support staff members. 
• All of the elementary math and reading interventionists and instructional support teachers would be let go. Full day kindergarten and the elementary school's music program would be eliminated.
• Both the high school and the middle school would lose virtually all their language programs. Spanish would be cut at the middle school (there are currently two Spanish teachers), and all other languages -- Italian, French and German at the middle school; Italian, French, German, Latin and Japanese at the high school -- would be cut.
• The high school's art, tech-education and family/consumer science programs would each go from six teachers down to one.
• would lose 18 alternative education teachers, thereby eliminating that program.

The board took no action on the study Wednesday, but board member Jody Hess said it was important to “bring it forward so everyone would see how serious things are.”

Hess asked for the public's help in finding other ways to cut costs, calling back to the layoffs the board approved in 2010 to balance the budget.

"If there are other things we can look at for savings, please, bring them forward," she said. "I don’t want to go through what we went through last year."

'Take Our Money'

The board has held a series of budget workshops -- including a five-hour one on Wednesday morning and afternoon -- in which different department heads outlined what they spent each year. So far, the district has come up with a few cost cutting measures. Holding off on buying new buses saved about $1 million, and administrators have , which would cut $65,000 in spending.

The district has proposed the teachers take a two-year wage freeze, while the teachers have that would involve taking a one-year pay freeze, a move they say would save the district nearly $8 million.

On Tuesday night, the district and members of the teacher's union began talks about the budget, the more that's characterized the budget debate so far.

"That is a huge, huge thing," teacher Glenda Kellow told her colleagues at a rally Wednesday before the meeting. During the meeting, she noted that "this is the first time ever when we’ve not had a rapport with the board."

A few dozen teachers, parents and students gathered in the parking lot of the district office to show their support for the one-year pay freeze.

They chanted things like "Take our money!" and "Let us teach!" 

"It's time for them to take what we have to give and move on," said Kevin Deely, head of the union.

For now, teachers and administrators and board members say they will continue to meet, and try to identify other areas to cut without sacrificing jobs.