Adair, Adam, Agerton, Black …
The names behind the numbers behind the decision to lay off 68 city school teachers and support staff. The measure passed 4-1 at Thursday night’s school board meeting, with board member Bruce Hanson casting the lone dissenting vote.
The possibility of a reduction in force was first posited last month as a way to dig the ailing Columbus Municipal School District out of debt. Initially, the school board announced that the contracts of 59 certified staff members would not be renewed.
A week later, on Feb. 13, a list of 69 names was presented to the board for approval, with district personnel director Dr. Myra Gillis saying 10 additional people had been overlooked during the initial culling. One was later found to not meet the criteria and was removed from the list.
Board members immediately balked, voting to table the measure to allow for further examination and discussion. Many parents, teachers and students — who came to protest — saw the deferment as a small victory.
Thursday night, that victory was shattered in front of more than 30 people who showed up at the district’s central office for a special board meeting.
Ellis, Fields, Fulcher, Gardner …
The district used a formula which board attorney David Dunn said is backed by state code.
Under the Mississippi Code Annotated Sections 37-9-101 through 37-9-113 — the Education Employment Procedures Law (EEPL) — the definition of a school district employee is any teacher, principal, superintendent or other professional who holds a valid license and has worked at least two continuous years in the state as well as one full year in their current district of employment.
Using this law, the district drew up a list of all certified staff who didn’t meet the state’s definition of an employee and were therefore legally powerless to appeal the decision.
Hallmark, Harris, Haynes, Henley …
A number of people on the layoff list, including Columbus High School Principal Scott Hallmark, had enough years in previous districts but are currently in the homestretch of their first year with the Columbus school district.
Teachers and staff members were given notice several weeks ago of their impending fate, which Liddell said was announced early so they would have time to find employment elsewhere.
The district’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30, and if the list had been drawn up this July, fewer staff members would have met the criteria for dismissal. The only people who would have made the list would have been those who did not have an additional two years of continuous employment within the state. All would have had their requisite year with CMSD.
Hallmark — who came to Columbus last May with seven years of administrative experience and five years of classroom experience with the West Point School District — would not have made the list.
Linda Goodman, whose 10th grade son attends Columbus High School, said she came to Thursday night’s meeting hoping Hallmark’s job would be saved.
In his brief tenure with the school, he has earned a reputation as a strict, no-nonsense disciplinarian, which some parents have questioned but Goodman said she appreciated. She wants her son in a school where rules and regulations are non-negotiable.
“Kids get away with too much stuff,” she said. “I hope things change and they can save his job. He brought something to the district. I don’t think they should have wasted his time if they were going to let him go.”
Martin, McConnell, McNeal, Moore …
Hanson questioned both the timing and the necessity of the reduction in force.
He argued that the district actually has the necessary funds to avoid declaring a shortfall, negating the need to reduce personnel.
The district is partially funded by city ad valorem taxes collected from October to September, but the district’s fiscal year runs from July to June. The $43.5 million budget the board passed for 2010-2011 included anticipated ad valorem revenue of $13.39 million, but that money is not yet available to be drawn upon.
Board President Glenn Lautzenhiser said this morning that the anticipated revenue shouldn’t be included in the budget until it is actually received, and that the district is committed to not asking the City Council for funds that will require another millage increase like the 2.9-mill increase placed upon city residents to help fund this fiscal year.
Liddell has previously stated that the district’s reserve fund has dropped to $2.7 million, and the board will have to withdraw $1.7 million from reserves just to finish the school year. The initial proposal of cutting 59 positions would have resulted in $2.1 million in cost-savings.
Personnel accounts for approximately 76 percent of the district’s operating budget, with $1.5 million per month needed to pay employees.
Hanson doggedly attempted to make his point during the meeting, asking if a reduction in force would still be necessary if the budget was corrected in order to reflect no shortfall.
Liddell said she and the budget team are investigating that possibility.
But the vote went forth without any further discussion and with Hanson voting against it.
After the meeting, Hanson said his first vote as a new school board member seven years ago was a vote against approving the budget that year, because it included a shortfall he didn’t believe was accurate, even then.
“I think the money is currently in the budget,” he said Thursday night. “It’s collected in this calendar year … that money needs to be in this fiscal year.”
Hanson’s current term ended today, and he has withdrawn his application for reappointment.
This morning, Lautzenhiser defended the board’s actions, saying Liddell and the budget tea, have spent thousands of hours analyzing the current budget as well as the one being drafted for next year, and it was their unanimous recommendation that the board members choose the route they took.
He said by reducing personnel, along with other implementing other cost-saving measures, they hope to have a healthy fund balance moving forward.
If the district continues to dip into its reserves and declare a shortfall, the state could decide to take over the district.
A state takeover, also known as conservatorship, can occur in districts which consistently show financial mismanagement or poor student performance.
Seven Mississippi districts are now in conservatorship: Drew, Hazlehurst, Indianola, North Panola, Okolona, Sunflower County and Tate County.
“We will continue to look at other areas of the district for cost-savings,” Lautzenhiser said. “This is not the totality of the district’s cost-savings. Hopefully more will be forthcoming.”
For 68 certified staff members, the decision has been made. Liddell said 35 may be rehired this summer if state funding makes it feasible.
… Wamble, Williams, Willis, Wright.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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