Schools

Francis Howell BOE Approve Staff Reductions, 13 Teachers Being Reduced

District forced to make cuts to reduce budget deficit.

Thirteen teachers will be cut for the 2011-12 school as the Francis Howell School District . The number could have been a lot higher. 

The Francis Howell Board of Education voted 6-0 on Thursday to approve a Reduction of Force of 10.16 full time equivalent positions, or 13 certified teachers. The move to eliminate the teachers enables Francis Howell to meet the recommendation of the Board back in February to eliminate 95 full-time equivalent positions. 

Thanks to a large number of retirements—Francis Howell Chief Human Resources Officer Steve Griggs said around 59 teachers have volunteered to retire—the district was able to get by without having to cut as many job as originally feared. 

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"I want to thank all those teachers for retiring," Board of Education Director Marty Hodits said. 

The Reduction of Force approved by the Board will take place across all grade levels, but will mostly impact the middle and high school level. Teachers who are losing their job will be notified in writing by April 15. After that, the school allows 36 months for a recall.

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Griggs said that if another teacher were to retire, the district would begin to recall the most senior teacher qualified to teach that position. For example, if a math teacher retired, the most senior math-certified teacher on the recall list would be eligible to return to the district. 

Teachers who previously taught one subject could also be recalled to teach another subject, as long as they are certified in that subject. 

"A teacher may have been reduced in, let’s say math, but if they’re also certified in social studies, and they are the most senior staff, they can be brought back for social studies," Griggs said.

TENNIS COURT REPAIRS TABLED

The Board was slated to vote on a purchase request for repairs at the Francis Howell North tennis courts. That vote, however, won’t take place until the April 21 meeting.

The repairs, which were set to cost $254,927, were going to be paid for out of the capital fund and not with bond money. Originally, the plan was to repair the tennis courts at Howell North and Francis Howell as a quick-fix problem. That plan fell through and it was decided to fix Howell North’s courts and the fix is a more long-term fix.

Board treasurer Mike Hoehn wondered why the district couldn’t use bond money for the project since it was going to be a costly long-term solution.

Hodits said with the bond money already allocated so many different ways, he didn’t’ want to take more money away. He said if existing projects end up being more expensive, he wanted to make sure the bond money was still there.

The Board agreed to table the vote on the tennis courts and proceeded to pass all other purchases with a 6-0 vote.

OTHER NOTES
  • Board director Mark Lafata was not in attendance at Thursday’s meeting. He requested his absence be excused because he had a work conflict. The BOE voted 4-2, with Board President Mike Sommer and Hoehn as the nay votes, to approve excuse Lafata’s absence.
  • The Board voted 6-0 to enter into an agreement with Coca-Cola to provide district beverage services for the next five years. The Board voted 5-1 to give Best Vending a five-year snack vending contract as well.
  • The Board also approved the extra duty salary scale for 2011-12.
  • At the next BOE meeting on April 14, the Board will vote on if they should proceed with advertising and selling approximately $9.87 million in refunding bonds and the amendment of various Direct Deposit Agreements.
  • Hodits wanted to remind everyone in attendance that the 8th Annual Charity Car, Truck and Bike Show will take place on Saturday, April 2, 2011. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. there will be a car show at the Francis Howell Central parking lot.  The event is a fundraiser to benefit the Batten Disease Support and Research Association. For more information, contact Vicki Pohlman at 636-851-4698 or Vicki.pohlman@fhsdschools.org.


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