By Amber Mattox
The 6.3 million dollar cut could be responsible for the loss of an estimated 100 jobs across the Centennial district. And of those jobs, 11 of them are teachers at CHS.
On April 2, teachers on the cut-list attended a meeting with assistant superintendent Dr. Dave Halsted. At the time, they discussed the reasoning for the cuts, which teachers will potentially be cut, and why those teachers will be cut.
Teachers on the cut-list are from every department and most are the most recently hired for that department. While not always the case, seniority was the primary factor in choosing which teachers will be laid off. The cut plays out by the program first. If the teacher is part of a program that is marked to be cut with no endorsement to any other class they will be laid off.
“Seniority bumping” is how the district office describes this method of laying off teachers. The Centennial Education Association specifies in its contract that seniority is how lay-offs will be conducted. And the most recently hired teacher in a department is to be the first consideration in being laid off.
“These are very difficult times for not only the schools but for our overall economy. The thought of losing staff is very disheartening and sad. The quality of our educational program will suffer as a result of the kinds of cuts that will be made,” said principal Mark Baier.
As teachers and student alike learned of the cuts, many were disheartened and angry.
“I love teaching and will try to continue doing so even if it is at another school,” said biology teacher Robert White, a first-year teacher facing lay-offs. “Teaching at CHS has been a great experience. I love working in my department and the students are a lot of fun.”
White knows he will have to wait to hear if his job is safe for next year. Some of the teachers won’t know of their futures until June or later, when the budget is finalized. This makes teachers, students, and district anxious.
“I know the situation probably can’t be changed. It just is a hard thing to swallow when you know some of your favorite teachers could be cut,” exclaimed junior Sydney Johansen. “ I wish we could do something.”
Second year teacher Sunshine McFaul has been vocalabout how much these cuts will impact her life and the lives of her students.
“The most hurtful thing to me would be not being able to see my juniors graduate,” McFaul said. “It really makes me emotional.”
McFaul feels that these cut are indicative of a larger problem. “Society doesn’t value education,” she said.
Some teachers and parents echoed this sentiment last fall, when Centennial bond failed to pass. If the bond measure had passed we would have built three new schools in the Centennial district. Possibly providing jobs to those teachers who lost theirs. The district budget is approximately $65 million dollars. The cut was originally planned to be $6.5 million dollars, which would be 10% of our overall budget. On April 6 the budget cut raised to $7.8 million as a result of a new assessment of the state’s budget. Soon we could face a 15% cut of the overall budget or even similar to a 20% cut of the budget as other Oregon schools are facing. “The reason teachers are getting hit the hardest is because out of the whole school’s budget, 85% goes to their salaries.” AnnouncedSuperintendent Bob McKean.
The budget deficit in Oregon is five times greater than in 2003, the last time the state experienced significant budget reductions. Every person in the district will be impacted in some manner, including students,” stated Baier.
Students and the teachers who will be left behind are also frustrated by what this teacher cuts mean to the school.
“We are in the business of educating students,” exclaimed business/tech teacher Adrian Spencer, who is not on the cut-list.
Setting the budget aside, it is the emotional impact of these lay-offs that are affecting the students at CHS and the teachers every day.
“It’s my life here,” explained McFaul. “No matter what this has meant the world to me. I have not had the chance yet to make the impact I wanted to make.”