RIFs at SPS
From Dr. Enfield:
Due to ongoing
budget limitations, the School Board on May 2 authorized a very limited
Reduction in Force this year. Given our growing enrollment and our
priority to protect funding that directly affects our classrooms,
we have worked hard to ensure we maintain and retain the backbone of
our District – our employees.
Unfortunately it is
necessary for us to reduce our staffing in a few areas by up to 45
positions, including 17 Classified and 28 Certificated staff, primarily
in the areas of counseling, Physical Education, Music,
Career Technical Education and English Language Learners. Affected
staff members in these positions were notified during the past several
days about this RIF.
In total, we also
eliminated 11 Central Office positions.
Although this is a
limited Reduction in Force compared to previous years, it is not easy
and has a tremendous impact on those employees who will lose their
position. I want to thank those staff members for their
service to Seattle Public Schools and our students. Our Employee
Assistance Program, together with the Seattle Education Association and
Human Resources, are offering a resource program for Classified and
Certificated staff on May 23. This program will include
information about unemployment, benefits, job search resources, as well
as the Right to Return process.
I want to thank our
Budget team and our Human Resources Department for their work this
spring. It is our goal to present the Board a balanced budget by June 20th,
and our Budget team is working hard
on finding ways to protect classroom funding in these challenging
budget times.
Word is that Cleveland's counselors may be protected because they are grant-funded but I'll have to ask the SEA about this.
Comments
Counseling is the only position not capitalized in the letter, a reflection of the devaluing of socioemotional and guidance needs of students in the district. One third of the cuts to certs were to counselors. This is after two previous years of taking the deepest cuts in the district.
Counselors are disappearing in the N, E, S and W. and for all the wrong reasons. All over the city school communities are finding their counselors are gone and boxes of test packets fill the space where they once stood.
embarrassedbysps
A little common sense please
Because it tickles me and itches her.
When the District first bought the MAP it was all about having a standard formative assessment for the whole district.
We wanted a formative assessment to inform instruction. MAP is rarely, if ever, used for that and it has questionable value as that kind of tool.
We wanted the whole district to adopt the same formative assessment as part of the alignment effort, to assure that the instructional content was the same in every school. MAP is never used for that purpose.
Now we keep MAP because it is used to assess teachers, not students. That has become the primary (if not sole) rationale for it.
If you are a teacher who has been forced out please contact our group. We are in Phase One of legal and media efforts to reform the policies that have cost the careers of so many fine teachers.
You are not alone. Salander
salander688@gamail.com
Isn't this the point of successful charters? The ones that actually work? They offer support in the building. Which we could be doing RIGHT NOW but aren't. Pure politics and it is hurting students and driving away teaching talent.
Mr White
Where's the sense?
16 Riffed counselors.
Shame on SSD.
There is also the insane belief that the fresher the better.
Experienced teachers are a problem as they ask those darn "why?" questions.
Also, she may have wanted to make room for TFA.
Salander
Offhand, I can think of 13 30+ year veteran teachers who are retiring or quitting this year, and only one of those makes me think "Finally!". The rest are all great teachers who will be sorely missed and not easily replaced.
Where's the sense?
"tenured teacher"?! Are you from around here? Teachers don't have tenure. Some teachers have been put on PIPs the second week a new principal starts, without a classroom observation!
Plus, the whole evaluation "tool" is top secret/for admin's eyes only. Why is it not posted for everyone to see? So we can judge for ourselves whether a teacher isn't cutting the mustard?
Highl likely she will get rehired by the end of the sumer -- at another school. So they will take a counselor form somewhere else who will have to learn Ingraham. And Carie will have tolearn a new school.
Doesn't seem liek this is what is best for students.
Incoming IHS mom
(*) I knew who you were talking about, but when I typed 'Fisher' it seemed TOO familiar!