NEISD budget cuts/layoffs/schedule changes (merged threads) (San Antonio, Anton: purchase, schools)

[stoneoak]

Originally Posted by pr57001

I don't follow the analogy. Slowly rising costs over time do not cause an "emergency". A district in a slowly evolving financial emergency wouldn't build a 50 million dollar high school (or whatever they cost these days), court teachers with the highest salaries and renovate every other school.

To follow your analogy, this is more the $30,000 millionaire with a huge mortgage he couldn't afford who had his ARM reset, had his payment triple, and was then "surprised" it happened who was planning to flip it for a profit in 4.5 years.

I do agree, however, that it does not change what you have to do now--it is what it is--but my concern is that the inputs to a school district's funding are hardly volatile enough to make the (undeniable, actual) "emergency" excusable.

but you have to remember that a lot of the money given to school districts has ties attached to it...can only be spent on certain things. New schools are from bond money...totally different can of worms.

[traficdogn]

Originally Posted by Bowie

At the electives fair booths, we got the hardest sell from language teachers and technology teachers. I wouldn't like to see either of those electives options go away.

That is interesting. This "emergency" seems to revolve around staff at the high school level.

Just guessing..
It appears that the district has a lot of tenured elective teachers. But due to the new 4x4 Law (4 years math 4 years science) the amount of students enrolling in electives is probably falling. I wonder if the only way the district can have a reduction of tenured personnel is by having an "emergency"?

[pobre]

Well, there is no such thing as tenure. With the number of classes that each student can take reduced from 8 to 7, then, yes, the electives will be the classes to be cut.

[zhugeliang1]

Tenure is what they use for university professors. For secondary schools and below, you get probationary contract the first three years. Then continuing contract after that.

[catriona]

I seem to remember my teacher friend telling me that the teachers have seniority within their own high school department first, then within the district. If art teacher Jones had the lowest seniority in Johnson High School's art department, but had more seniority over teacher Smith in Madison High School's art department, Jones would move to Madison to teach art and Smith would move to which ever slot was available, if any. I think this is how the teachers were shuffled around prior to the beginning of the current school year.

The 7 period day coupled with the 4X4 graduation plan does restrict what electives the kids can take. The kids that are not in the 2 period classes (band, etc) are the ones that lose. Band kids will lose one band period, but they still have band + one period of electives or 2 1/2 year electives or required subjects (health, communications).

So, my son is mad because he will lose his 1/5 hr band class every day and my daughter is mad because she is taking a career/tech class that is a two period class next year and won't be able to take an extra elective. Then they both are mad because they like the A/B schedule.

My question is, what's going to happen when teachers don't coordinate their tests and the kids end up with 4 major tests on one day. Doesn't make for a happy household the night before. The administrator said that the teachers would have to work on coordinating this and other issues, but ......... okay, I'll be positive and think that things will work out okay. Besides, what choice do we really have?

[FCF's Wife]

Originally Posted by catriona

I seem to remember my teacher friend telling me that the teachers have seniority within their own high school department first, then within the district. If art teacher Jones had the lowest seniority in Johnson High School's art department, but had more seniority over teacher Smith in Madison High School's art department, Jones would move to Madison to teach art and Smith would move to which ever slot was available, if any. I think this is how the teachers were shuffled around prior to the beginning of the current school year.

The 7 period day coupled with the 4X4 graduation plan does restrict what electives the kids can take. The kids that are not in the 2 period classes (band, etc) are the ones that lose. Band kids will lose one band period, but they still have band + one period of electives or 2 1/2 year electives or required subjects (health, communications).

So, my son is mad because he will lose his 1/5 hr band class every day and my daughter is mad because she is taking a career/tech class that is a two period class next year and won't be able to take an extra elective. Then they both are mad because they like the A/B schedule.

My question is, what's going to happen when teachers don't coordinate their tests and the kids end up with 4 major tests on one day. Doesn't make for a happy household the night before. The administrator said that the teachers would have to work on coordinating this and other issues, but ......... okay, I'll be positive and think that things will work out okay. Besides, what choice do we really have?

Uh, home school?

[catriona]

Originally Posted by FCF's Wife

Uh, home school?

LOL! Actually, at this point in their education, no. When they were younger, they were in private school and probably would have loved to be home schooled. Now, they would really be mad if I pulled them out of school!!

At any rate, there are those that can't afford to either home school or send their kids to private schools.

By 'what choice', I meant that the school district didn't give voters the option to decide.

[zhugeliang1]

If they have to put four tests in one day, just make the tests easier or make them open book. Problem solved.

[sa_rushfan]

From what I heard...the district considered going out to the people and allowing them to vote on a rate hike to keep the A/B schedule. However, the reason they decided not to do that is that it would have been extremely risky and would have really put them behind the eight ball. If it had gone to the public and the public decided against it, they would have spent significant time and money trying to push it through putting them in an even worse situation than they already are in.

Given the circumstances, I believe the district has it's hands tied. They are caught between a rock and a hard place. They can't go to the public because of the huge risk it possess and the state is still witholding back their monies. With that, they needed to cut somewhere. As much as I don't like the situation, I understand where the district is coming from.

I think the real problem, just my opinion, is the cap the state has set out on how much a district can recieve from it's consituients based upon their tax. We wouldn't be in this problem if that wasn't imposed. Then again, I'm sure if it wasn't imposed, we would hear about something elsewhere that isn't working.

[LuminousFive]

This is really tough on Band... for bands to be competitive on the state level they have to have the rehearsal time during the school day. UIL limits time outside of school to 8hrs per week. This change cuts the in-school rehearsal time in half. This is no bueno.