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Semmes Incorporation Supporters Plead Their Case
By Steve Alexander Reporter
Published: Thu, April 17, 2008 - 9:17 pm
Steve Alexander
That's the word from Superintendent Roy Nichols, who wants to have the names before school board members in time for their next board meeting Tuesday.
The board held a work session Thursday afternoon, and received the official word on the proposed cuts from the superintendent.
Nichols is proposing about 259 teaching positions be cut as well as central office positions totaling $3.5 million in salaries.
As far as where the cuts will come from and who specifically will be cut, Nichols said Thursday afternoon, "We have a list of that nature at this point. It is still in draft form, (and) will be finalized hopefully by tomorrow or Monday so that we can present the board with a list on Tuesday."
But this doesn't necessarily mean those people will be out of a job.
Tenured teachers and many front office personnel will go back to the classroom or fill other positions.
Also, administrators say they hope a lot of the positions to be lost simply won't be filled because of attrition.
School board member Bill Meredith said, "This is all tentative. This may very well change depending on revenues, depending on attrition and resignations and those kind of things."
In addition, Board president Fleet Belle says a vote on the cuts may not necessarily come at Tuesday's meeting.
Belle said, "If our questions are not answered adequately, we will have to continue this. Now, we know we're working against a narrow window about tenure for some, no tenure for others, but we have to do the right thing."
And Superintendent Nichols believes these will cuts will only be a temporary setback.
He said, "As soon as the economy picks up again, we'll start back in re-hiring people, so I think its one, maybe two years, then we'll be right back where we were before."
The budget cut proposal also includes eliminating several programs like Junior Achievement and a program designed to enhance the academic performance of middle school students.
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I think the MCPSS property manager needs to look past his own job security and unload some of the tax burdens he’s managing. How much is that tax costing? What’s his salary? Maybe we can save some money there by eliminating both! It makes more since than impacting 500 families and thousands of students. Why would MCPSS need to develop the properties if you don’t have the teachers.