?Not desirable, but necessary’ layoffs come to six RC teachers

It was at last month?s meeting, members of the Rogers City Area Schools Board of Education authorized the administration to begin the process of reducing the teaching staff by six positions. The names of the six teachers, one with 14 years of experience in the district, were announced at Monday?s meeting. Along with the teacher layoffs, the elimination of the K-12 art program and French classes received approval. ?This is the hard part; we have names to put to those positions and it is a very difficult position for us to be in,? said superintendent Paul Mancine as the agenda item came up early in the meeting. ?This is not desirable, but it is a necessity. Specific circumstances are still fluid and the situations may change.? The board voted 5-0 to approve the motion. Board members Jo Bush-Glenn and Scott McLennan were not in attendance for the vote. McLennan arrived shortly thereafter.

THE MOTION AUTHORIZED the layoff of Kelly Phelps, Sherry Bisson, Nick Rethman, Lynn Krentz, Ariane Romel, and Mary Benner. Phelps taught art at the high school level since 1992. Mancine said the board wanted to honor the request of the Rogers City Educators? Association to give as early a notification as possible to those facing layoffs. “The RCEA appreciates that Mrs. (Deb) Jones, Mr. Mancine, and the board considered our recommendation and notified teachers with their layoff intentions at this time instead of waiting until the end of the year,? said Vicki Bruder, RCEA vice president. ?A lot of needs will have to be addressed and this gives the teachers the opportunity to make plans and adjustments,” The cost reduction decision was part of the Phase II Budget Reduction Plan intended to save the district a total of $375,475. Along with the laying off of six teachers, the board has decided to not renew the contract of the school success worker and reduce the general fund obligation to athletics. School officials also are looking at saving money by reducing energy costs and not renewing North Central Accreditation fees. There will be a net loss of five teachers, as assistant principal Missy Wozniak will return to be a member of the teaching staff in the fall.

?EVER SINCE I have been here, we have lost 24 to 30 students every year, but we have not lost any teachers,? said Jones. ?When three teachers retired last year, we did not

go out and hire new people, we recalled laid off people.? Along with the cutting of the art program and French classes, class sizes would likely increase. Jones said her goal is to not have any class with more than 30 students. Elementary class sizes would likely be no higher than the low 20s. Mancine said the situation is subject to change, if the state legislature were to increase the state aid. Some board members noted that it is an election year, which might be an incentive for lawmakers to provide public schools with more funding. ?At this point in time, the best course of action is the layoff,? said Mancine.

At the close of the meeting, under the agenda item specifically for board members to make comments or air concerns, Dick Hanson said ?anybody on that (layoff) list, I hope they stay with it, because things are going to change and you never know what is going to happen in the next 60 days.? He also said there was some discussion about laying off teachers at the end of August so the district would not have to pay unemployment. ?We wanted to do it as soon as possible, so while that teacher is off they can collect unemployment,? said Hanson. ?It is just one of those little things we tried to do.?