Cutting Costs Will Likely Mean Job Losses for Twinsburg City Schools

As the examines options to reduce its budget, cuts to personnel, including teachers, could be on the horizon. These cuts could amount to $4.1 million.

Superintendent Kathryn Powers, along with the administration and school board, put together a for the 2012-13 school year. She emphasized that these are just possibilities at this time and that nothing is concrete.

There are three personnel categories the district will look at in making cuts: certified personnel (educators), classified and support staff, and administrative employees.

“It’s going to be a matter of stepping outside of our comfort level, stepping outside of the box maybe, and approaching how we schedule kids and how we look at the school day a little bit differently,” Powers said.

Certified personnel

The biggest hit will be felt by certified personnel, or the educators. Cuts to these positions could mean $3.1 million to the district, or 40.5 full-time equivalents.

A full-time equivalent (FTE) typically is the same as one full-time position. Powers said in Twinsburg a person could be considered one FTE if they’ve worked at least a seven-and-a-half hour day. Part-time employees’ combined hours can also equal one FTE. Powers said it is too early to determine exactly how many jobs this will mean.

One option will be to look at scheduling in . Twinsburg requires 24 credits to graduate while the state average is 20. If that number is reduced, it may mean the reduction of teachers in the high school. The district is also looking at switching to a traditional schedule, instead of block scheduling.

“There’s a potential of significant reductions at the high school, depending on how this plays out,” Powers said.

Similar options may affect teachers as well. Eliminating electives could mean reducing teachers. Removing all-day kindergarten could also be an option, moving to only half-days or a few days a week.

Cuts to positions like special education and foreign languages may be necessary depending on need. If there are more positions than necessary or there isn’t a demand for a specific class, those positions could be removed.

Special areas teachers, school counselors, Title 1 teachers, and media specialists, or librarians, are other possible reductions. Powers said both a school counselor and Title 1 position may be reduced through attrition.

The district is also looking at possible reductions to supplemental contracts for staff that support extra-curricular activities, such as coaches and advisers. Powers said after meeting with the athletic director and building principals they could “shave off of the number of contracts about $77,000.” These could be in activities where there isn’t much interest or where there is a high number of coaches or advisers.

Classified and support staff

Reductions to classified and support personnel could save the district $705,000, or 29 FTEs, according to Powers.

These are hourly positions which include:

• custodians
• janitors
• mechanics
• paraprofessionals (educational assistants)
• assistants (non-educational)
• secretaries
• technology staff

It could also mean the reduction of bus drivers. The current estimate is three FTEs, however, it may be more depending on .

“That number could grow considerably depending upon the options of the level of service we maintain in our current bus schedule,” Mike Lenzo, assistant superintendent, said. He pointed out by reducing high school busing alone, the number could triple.

Administration

Powers said making cuts to administrative personnel could save the district a possible $256,000, or 3.57 FTEs. This category includes both administrators and positions that support administrators.

“We’re suggesting that there may be a reduction of the number of administrators that support the work here in the district,” Powers said.

The positions affected by these cuts could include administrators, administrative support personnel, school psychologists, and the substitute caller.

“The elimination of these positions just means that the work has to be distributed to folks that are currently here or to electronic formats,” Powers said.

It hasn’t been determined exactly what or how many positions will be affected. The district currently has two full-time school psychologists and several that are part-time.

The substitute caller is responsible for notifying potential substitute teachers when a spot opens up for the day. The district is looking at doing this online.

“A lot of school districts use an online format and that would save us some dollars there too,” Powers said.

Reductions were made earlier this year when administrators and central office staff agreed to pay freezes and when the contract of Director of Curriculum Susan Buckbee was reduced in half.

Powers said this list isn’t exhaustive and is open to new ideas from the community during the open forum on Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. in the R.B Chamberlin Middle School auditorium.

Other stories in this series:

• District Could Cut Possible $6 Million from Budget
• Changes Behind the Scenes Could Save Twinsburg Schools $370K
• District Looking at Two Pay-to-Play Options to Save Money
• Possible Cuts to Busing Could Save Twinsburg Schools Money
• School District to Explore Pay Freezes, Health Care Concessions