Print this story | E-mail story | This story has 17 comments Add your own | iPod friendly
District identifies position cuts
Published Monday, March 24, 2008
The Fergus Falls school board on Monday specified where this spring’s instructional cuts will fall, identifying approximately 30 positions across the school district.
Superintendent Jerry Ness stressed that the actual number of teachers cut will be closer to 20 by the time final decisions are made.
“This is an unrequested leave process that we need to follow through,” he said, “so this is the first board meeting where we actually list just positions. And I will say we are very strong in the number of positions, and as we get federal funds back and get more enrollment in different classes, we hire back.”
Monday’s list touched all parts of the district, from 13 K-6 positions to cuts in special education, counseling and physical education staff. The names of teachers placed on unrequested leave will be released at the April 14 board meeting.
Comments
The Daily Journal is happy to host community conversations about news and life in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area. As hosts, we expect guests will show respect for each other. That means we don't threaten or defame each other, and we keep conversations free of personal attacks. Witty is great. Abusive is not. If you think a post violates these standards, don't escalate the situation. Instead, flag the comment to alert us. We'll take action if necessary. It's not hard. This should be a place where people want to read and contribute -- a place for spirited exchanges of opinion. So those who persist with racist, defamatory or abusive postings risk losing the privilege to post at all.Posted by Lala (anonymous) on March 24, 2008 at 10:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I hate to see the schools have to keep on doing this. Can't they just start cutting positions higher up? The class sizes in Fergus public schools are way too big the way it is, no wonder why parents are starting to send their kids to other districts!!! Very sad!!!!
Posted by doctipster (anonymous) on March 25, 2008 at 12:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
dont worry they will cut 20 jobs for the summer and then hire 17 of them back this fall. the district just doesnt want to pay benifits over the summer. sadly this usually causes good teachers to go to other districts as well. no job security.
the sad part is just a few years ago when they let a teacher physically abuse a handicapped child and still let him retire and hes drawing a pension. that people, is sad that the district would rather pay an abuser then have a teaching slot. That teacher should have been fired and been stripped of all benifits, not had the luxury of early retirement.
the board really showed where there commitment to education resides.
Posted by woundedduck (anonymous) on March 25, 2008 at 10:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Here is a thought. Why don't we, as a community, try to find a solution for helping this struggling district. I can assure you threatening to send your kids to Underwood or O.L.V. does not make the situation better.
Posted by hightag08 (anonymous) on March 25, 2008 at 11:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)
doctipster, you are incorrect. A teacher's contract runs from September until August. Therefore, they continue to receive pay and benefits until the end of August. The only way they lose benefits is if the district does not re-hire them in the fall. I do agree, however that being put on Unrequested Leave and then being re hired puts undue stress on a teacher, compelling them to seek employment elsewhere.....
Posted by toad3 (anonymous) on March 25, 2008 at 1:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Cut the highest paid people first!
Posted by jud (anonymous) on March 25, 2008 at 1:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Rembember- There are more than teachers being cut and that will affect the economy too. A lot of support staff are being cut too!
Posted by antiquesforsale (anonymous) on March 25, 2008 at 2:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
There are many teachers in my family. While I do not like a raise in taxes - how else are we going to pay for qualified teachers? The seasoned and more educated teachers earn the most pay - By "cutting the highest paid first" you take away the element of experience from the classrooms. A good district has a combination of young inexperienced teachers AND seasoned teachers. It's like anything else - if consumers want more services - they have to pay more. If you want good teachers to stay in your district, you have to pay them a decent wage.
Posted by timetotalk (anonymous) on March 25, 2008 at 4:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Doctipster, you are incorrect on more than one statement that you have made. That teacher is a very loving, caring person who was perfect for his position and had been there for many, many years. He did not "abuse" any child, handicapped or otherwise. Please get your facts straight before you speak of somebody on a personal level.
Posted by Brandon (anonymous) on March 25, 2008 at 8:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
antiquesforsale: that makes a lot of sense =]
Posted by doctipster (anonymous) on March 25, 2008 at 8:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
bottom line he struck a child. whether i was a closed fist or smack on the head. IT WAS WRONG. dont stick up for him.
how can we fix this school district when they are chasing our students to other districts. rising kindegarden costs. now they are raising student activity cost. when i enrolled my child for kindegarden in underwood this year i was #11 from our district simply because of the double cost of kindegarden.
they, the school board with these crazy price increases are the ones who are chasing our students away to other districts.
Posted by ginger_ale (anonymous) on March 26, 2008 at 7:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Doctipster:
The teacher in question never had the opportunity to discuss the situation. He had the friendship and support of the majority of people who worked with him. Unfortunately, their voices were left unheard as they were not allowed to speak publicly about the alleged victim or the accuser. Don't assume everything you read in the Journal is fact. People don't just start abusing students after nearly 30 years of service.
Posted by timetotalk (anonymous) on March 26, 2008 at 9:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Exactly, ginger_ale.
Posted by jud (anonymous) on March 26, 2008 at 10:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I cannot believe a Counselor is going to be cut. There is seldom a Principal around each day because he has 3 elementary schools to be at. He does his best BUT Both children and their families are very needy and need a lot of DAILY support!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by concerned08 (anonymous) on March 26, 2008 at 11:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
doctipster,
You pose a good question.
"how can we fix this school district when they are chasing our students to other districts. rising kindegarden costs. now they are raising student activity cost."
My question to you, how can we balance the budget without making cuts. If you can figure out a way I'm sure that the dist. would be more then thrilled to hear you out.
Posted by doctipster (anonymous) on March 27, 2008 at 2:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
concerned...
I have held discussions with a few of the board members as well as a few of the members of the last task force. Our first mistake was to waste money on rebuilding these old school buildings. I know we all want neighborhood schools and we all don't want to see such lovely building disappear. But lets be real. They are old, not worth fixing, and in ten to twenty years they are going to see that and want more money.
Now what should have happened if the school board would have listened. Is that we should have built a school out on Hwy 59. Join districts with Pelican Rapids. Call it Maplewood Area High School or somthing along those facts. Build it out there, and you grab students Pelican Rapids, Dent, maybe Frazee, Vergass, Rothsay,... But this allows for more funding. To get students to want to come to your high school you need to offer them something. Parents go for new schools, innovative technology, not program cuts and teacher cuts....
best of all, it allows each of the cities to grow. It has pretty much been a proven fact that cities tend to grow towards the high schools. Best example would be Minnewaska Area High School. If you knew of Starbuck and Glenwood before the school was built you would know that both those towns have grown immensly towards that high school. Both cities in essance are growing. We here in fergus are offering a crappy old school with a few band aids on it...
You want Balance... We just gave them 32.5 million dollars, Can't see why they need more and if they did, they should have been straight up with people. I bet they wouldn't have gotten this thing passed if they would have told people
"By the way after you pass this we are going to have to cut jobs, increase feees, and still be under operational debt.
WHAT GOOD IS A REBUILT HIGH SCHOOL IF YOU ARE IN OPERATIONAL DEBT...
we are still right back to where we started from....
Posted by concerned08 (anonymous) on March 28, 2008 at 10:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Maplewood Area High School. I don't believe the community would have gone for that. You lose your identity. Although it may be difficult to see some times this community is proud and a lot of people are proud Otters. Personally I think that idea would have been a waste of time to pursue. By the way, why did you talk to school board members and task force people. Why don't you run for school board? Why weren't you on the task force? You seem to be a pretty good backseat driver, but can you take the initiative to lead?
Posted by doctipster (anonymous) on March 29, 2008 at 1:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
obviously if the rest of the residents of fergus falls agree with you I would never get elected to a school Board. And I never said I wasn't on any past school task force's... But task force members seem to always be "Big Buisness" so to speak... Members this past task force included a couple middle/big shots from ottertail power, The owner of Quality Circuts, Owner of Heikes Auto, So you see who really this affected most. Quality Circuts owner was a big reason the referendum for the new school failed. He launched a huge campaign against it. Full page in the daily journal, and threats to move his company.
Post a comment
(Requires free registration.)