March 29, 2024

No staffing cuts proposed during SIAC recommendations, survey

Several of the speakers at this week’s two Newton Community School District forums about possible reconfiguration mentioned staffing cuts — specifically, cuts to special education and other support staff.

However, nothing in the School Improvement Advisory Committee’s September recommendation from the facilities subcommittee includes staff cuts — and none of the questions on the recent surveys mention layoffs or staff reductions.

The Newton school board remained silent during both of Monday's teacher forum and Tuesday's public forum about reconfiguration, although the board did individually thank the public for input at the end of each session.

After Tuesday’s forum, board member Donna Cook cleared up at least one part of the discussion about possible staffing changes as a planned part of reconfiguration. Cook said that even though reducing class sizes was a main goal of the facilities subcommittee’s goals — the means to get to any of the goals are not necessarily a part of the ongoing discussion about possibly reconfiguring the elementary grades.

“We’ve discussed none of that,” Cook said, when asked if special-education teachers and other personnel might be re-assigned or spread across more campuses. “We’ve had all this talk of how we have more lower socio-economic families and kids in the district than we used to. We’re not about to start planning to move specialists around or taking them out of their best situations.”

The subcommittee’s report, as discussed in the Sept. 8 board meeting, recommended reopening the Emerson Hough building as a regular school. There is no mention in the minutes of the Sept. 8 meeting to cut staffing in any way.

Since the beginning of the 2011-12 school year, Emerson Hough was a part of a massive district reconfiguration, as it went from being one of the neighborhood schools to housing district administration, the Basics & Beyond alternative school, the pre-K program, the Disciplinary Alternative program and more.

The district recently purchased property at 1302 First Ave. W., which features the 20,000 building formerly occupied by a Hy-Vee grocery.

District Superintendent Bob Callaghan recently told a Newton Rotary Club audience that one objective is to educate the high-school-age students from the Hough building at a different site from the pre-K students, and the administration offices could move with Basics & Beyond and DAP to the former Hy-Vee building.

Cook said no matter how Emerson Hough is used, or how many teachers are needed to achieve manageable class sizes, there is no concession that changing the number of support personnel is an essential sacrifice.

“Lower class sizes does not mean the elimination of anyone,” Cook said. “We’re having these forums so that professionals can tell us what they think is the best thing for the kids. “It’s not like there are only two options.”

The arrangement of K through fourth grade campuses, along with a grades fifth through eighth middle school, was strongly discouraged in a recent district survey of teachers. Sixty-six of the 95 teachers who answered the question said they were not in favor of this reconfiguration idea.

The costs and condition of the Berg elementary and middle school complex is not a direct factor in reconfiguration, but it’s certainly a large and relevant issue, as it will soon need millions of dollars of either major renovations or a complete replacement.

The board is set to hold a special work session at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 18 in the Emerson Hough conference room. The next regularly scheduled board meeting is Dec. 22.

Cook and fellow board member Travis Padget both said they wished the 28 or so attendees at Tuesday's 40-minute forum had been more vocal, as only six people signed up to speak. However, the entire board both thanked everyone for attending, and encouraged those who wish to communicate privately with the board about reconfiguration issues to utilize the email addresses listed online at www.newton.k12.ia.us/district_sb.aspx.

Cook said the board will look for all types of ideas for the board’s bigger decisions.

“No rock will be left unturned when we look at what’s next,” she said.