Enrollment has decreased by 182 students
While tackling a long list of items on its agenda on June 27, the Floyd County Board of Education quietly approved the non-renewals of 32 employees.
The motion to not renew contracts for 16 certified and 16 classified, non-tenured employees came alongside approval of nearly 30 consent agenda items that were not discussed at the meeting. The personnel report also showed the resignation and retirements of 14 other employees.
Superintendent Dr. Henry Webb said the employees were not laid off and the positions were not cut because of any budgetary issue. He said, instead, that the cuts were made by school leaders for other reasons — loss of students, poor performance and/or class or program changes.
The district’s human resources director Ted George said the number of district employees have decreased by 32 from the 2015-2016 to the current school year. The district had 992 employees (466 certified and 525 classified) last school year and has 960 (455 certified and 505 classified) for the upcoming school year. Those figures indicate that the district has lost 11 certified and 21 classified employees since last school year, but George believes the numbers will decrease.
Administrators analyze historical data and use enrollment projections to give allocations of teaching positions and funds to schools, George said. When enrollment numbers are finalized later in the school year, more allocations may be made and some non-renewed employees still have an opportunity to apply for between five and 10 certified positions and 10 and 15 classified positions that are open in the district.
He described the non-renewals as a routine practice. Last year, the board issued non-renewals for 20 employees.
Six of 16 certified employees who were not renewed were cut because of enrollment or because schools chose not to offer those positions any longer. The others, he said, were cut because of performance. Last year, performance problems caused non-renewals for seven employees.
He said tenured employees move to other schools and “bump” non-tenured employees to the non-renewal list if positions must be cut due to decreases in enrollment or other reasons. George said administrators try to ensure that some positions that face non-renewals are “taken care of” through retirements and attrition, but that does not happen with all non-renewals.
Kristina Springer, the district’s Director of Pupil Personnel, said enrollment has decreased by 182 students since the 2014-2015 school year. The calculation does not include Head Start or preschool students.
From May 2015 to this May, enrollment increased at May Valley, Osborne Elementary, Allen Central Middle, Betsy Layne High School and the Renaissance Learning Center, but it decreased at all other schools.
The biggest loss in enrollment was at Prestonsburg High School, which had 53 fewer students this year and did not renew one employee.
Adams Middle lost 32 students, and two employees were not renewed. South Floyd Middle/High lost 23 students, and two employees were not renewed.
Other significant decreases in enrollment were at Prestonsburg and McDowell, which each lost 22 students. Non-renewals were issued for four employees at McDowell and two employees at Prestonsburg.
Non-renewals were also issued to one employee at Allen, which lost nine students; three employees at Stumbo, which lost eight students; one employee at Betsy Layne Elementary, which lost 15 students; and one employee at Allen Central High, which lost eight students.
But schools that lost fewer students or increased enrollment also chose not to renew employment contracts. Duff Elementary had no change in student enrollment, but did not renew one employee. May Valley gained four students, but issued non-renewals to four employees. Still, Duff has four more employees than it did last year and May Valley has three more employees than it did last year.
Only four schools did not have employees on the list of non-renewals. Osborne Elementary gained 10 students — some of which included special needs students from McDowell — and all employees were renewed. No non-renewals were issued for Allen Central Middle, which gained 22 students, Betsy Layne High School, which gained four students or the Renaissance Learning Center, which gained eight students.
Overall, six schools — Adams Middle, Allen Central High, Betsy Layne Elementary, McDowell, Prestonsburg and Stumbo lost at least one certified and/or classified staff since the board renewed employee contracts in July 2015. The board’s central office, maintenance and transportation departments have also lost at least one employee since that time. Five cuts have been made at central office, a comparison of the renewal lists shows, since July 2015. Positions no longer employed at central office include a food services support technician, a lead health assistant, one of four financial analysts and two temporary special needs assistants.
Since July 2015, the number of staff remained the same and/or increased at nine schools — Allen Central Middle, Allen Elementary, Betsy Layne High, Duff, May Valley, Osborne, Prestonsburg High, Renaissance Learning Center and South Floyd.
The district’s finance director Matt Wireman said the district’s allocation of positions, from a budget standpoint, are about the same as they were last year. At current numbers, there are about 10.9 fewer allocations for certified positions and around 20 fewer allocations for classified staff than there were last year, he reported. But those statistics, he said, will change in September after enrollment numbers are solidified and all grant funding is accounted for. When all grants are calculated, it should add about nine position allocations, he said, and getting exact enrollment data, instead of the estimates used at this time could bring back up to six classified position allocations.
The district is hiring several classified and certified employees for several schools. Employees who were not renewed at this week’s meeting have not moved to other schools or departments, but they may possibly be hired at other schools before the school year begins. Only one employee who was not renewed — a certified employee at May Valley — was moved to another school. The others may possibly be hired at other schools before the school year begins, George said.
Some staff changes in these schools and departments over the past year are attributed, in part, to staff who moved to other schools or departments. For example, Allen Central High has one fewer certified employee, representing a staff member who moved to Adams Middle, and three of four certified staff who left McDowell over the past year moved to other schools.
