The Bedford County School Board is set to vote Thursday on staffing standards for the division that would cut 93 full-time positions.
The standards would assign a higher number of students per classroom than current numbers, school officials have said.
Average class sizes would be 22 students per elementary school, 25 students per middle school and 26 students per high school.
The division has three high schools, three middle schools and 15 elementary schools. According to Bedford Schools Superintendent Douglas Schuch’s 2010-2011 budget recommendation, two elementary schools in Thaxton in Body Camp are proposed to be taken offline and turned into preschool centers despite objections from many in those areas.
The staff changes would mean the loss of 67 general education teachers — 27 for elementary schools, 25 for high schools and 15 for middle schools. Other affected positions include a number of aides, guidance counselors, secretaries, custodians and assistant principals.
Approving the standards would decrease expenditures in the budget by $4 million, according to the schools’ Web site.
If approved, the standards could be modified depending on final state and local figures. The board would review the standards annually in future years.
School officials received a final tally Tuesday of how many employees are participating in a voluntary retirement incentive that offers a one-time payment to those eligible. That program, plus attrition, may minimize layoffs, though Schuch has said in previous work sessions that job losses are unavoidable.
Board members are also set to vote tonight on revising a Reduction In Workforce policy. The current policy states that a rehire of staff is based strictly on seniority — the revised version stipulates that a rehire would be offered in reverse order of the layoff, which means the last person laid off would be the first rehired.
The board last year was able to recall positions that had been cut.
Though the date is tentative, the board is targeting a budget approval date of March 25. The Bedford County Board of Supervisors is set to adopt its budget, which includes school spending and a contribution to schools from the county’s general fund, on April 12.
Tonight’s school board meeting takes place at 7 p.m. at the Bedford Science & Technology Center at 600 Edmund St. in Bedford.
To view the agenda, visit www.bedford.k12.va.us and click on BoardDocs.
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