Eastwood and other local schools look at cutbacks
4/19/2011PEMBERVILLE — Seven Eastwood Local Schools employees will lose their jobs for the 2011-12 school year and another seven will have their hours reduced as part of the district’s previously approved plan to trim $650,000 from the annual budget.
Twelve classified employees being laid off or having their hours reduced as of June 30 mostly are associated with the mothballing of Webster Elementary next school year, which is estimated to save $600,000. They work in areas including the cafeteria and office.
Two teachers, one who teaches elementary physical education and another who teaches middle/high school music, are among those who will have their hours reduced under a plan unanimously approved by the school board Monday night.
Three full-time teachers and one administrator are retiring this school year, and their positions will not be filled, said superintendent Brent Welker.
“That … makes up a part of the savings we associate with Webster,” Mr. Welker said after the school board meeting.
Eastwood is among local school districts making cutbacks as revenues, especially from the state, continue to decline.
Rossford Exempted Village Schools is planning about $500,000 in reductions for next school year, said Superintendent Susan Lang at that district’s school board meeting Monday night.
Cutbacks will include reducing hours for some employees, a “very few” layoffs, and attrition, Ms. Lang said. Principals are talking this week with employees who will be affected, she said.
Tuesday night, Woodmore Local Schools Board of Education will discuss areas where there could be additional cutbacks in that district if a 3.95-mill emergency levy on the May 3 ballot does not pass.The levy would raise $600,000 a year and cost the owner of a $100,000 house about $120 a year.
Among proposals if the Woodmore levy does not pass are ending high school transportation, cutting all extracurricular activities, and eliminating four high school and three elementary teachers. The Board of Education will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in Woodmore High School Library, and district officials will hold a final forum to answer questions about the levy at 7 p.m. May 2 in the high school cafeteria.
Eastwood’s Webster Elementary, meanwhile, will be maintained in case the district’s enrollment increases. All district fifth-graders will be transferred to the district’s middle school starting next year, and other Webster students will attend either Luckey or Pemberville elementaries.
The Webster Parent Teacher Organization is holding a celebration from 1 to 4 p.m. May 22 at the school building.
Contact Julie M. McKinnon at: jmckinnon@theblade.com or 419-724-6087.