Pay cuts likely in city schools; shorter calendar a possibility

School Superintendent Paul McKendrick said Tuesday that pay cuts are likely for employees across the division.

But as a possible offering to teachers and other school staff, he proposed at a school board meeting a new school calendar with fewer days for both teachers and students.

The proposed calendar would cut eight class days and eight additional teacher work or training days from next school year, for a total of 16 fewer teacher days.

Teachers would work the same number of hours per day, but students would get an additional 30 minutes per day, more than making up in minutes for the days missed. Teachers would devote more time to teaching or supervising students and less time to planning.

All the proposed changes relate in one way or another to cost savings. McKendrick said cutting that amount of staff time could potentially save about $6 million. He stressed however, that salary reductions would drive the implementation of the calendar, not the other way around.

McKendrick said employees might have little choice about pay cuts, but he would like to receive feedback from teachers, school employees and community members about the proposed calendar plan.

Essentially, school employees would be asked whether, in the case of a salary reduction, they would prefer to have fewer, more intense days, or stick with something similar to the current calendar.

“It could be that the employees don’t want this — there would be no reason to do it,” McKendrick said.

He and the board members discussed possible ways to get input from employees but did not nail down how it would be done.

The new calendar also calls for a three-week winter break stretching through Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the elimination of semester exams, the institution of high school study halls, and making mandatory a seven-period day at the high schools.

McKendrick’s comments came at a meeting that lasted close to three and a half hours and was attended by more than 110 people, who spilled out of the meeting room into the lobby.

Teachers, parents and children from Perrymont Elementary School made up a major contingent at the meeting. Some of the teachers and children held signs with laminated photos of activities and programs at the school.

The Perrymont supporters also played a major role in the 30-minute public comment period before the meeting.

“I’m going to beg you to take a really hard look at Perrymont,” said parent Jenny Poore. “There’s no place I’d rather my kids go.”

During the meeting, McKendrick released information suggesting that closing Perrymont as a K-5 school, moving the Hutcherson Early Learning Center and Parent Center into the building, and redistricting that would go along with the changes, could save the division $1.3 million.

He defended the as-yet-unofficial closure recommendation and acknowledged the feelings of those who came to support Perrymont.

“If they were not here I would be hurt,” McKendrick said. “They should love their school and they should fight for it.”

McKendrick will hold a meeting with Perrymont parents and staff at Perrymont Elementary School at 6:30 p.m. Monday. The school board will meet for a work session the next day. Work sessions are generally open to the public, but closed to public comment.