Possibility of layoffs spooks Moscow District teachers

Worth knowing before you read: The Governor is recommending a 1% reduction in state support to school districts and for Moscow School District that will amount to about $100,000. State law protects 99% of the state support to the District in the event of an enrollment loss (such as Palouse Prairie School would cause, or a mill closure would cause). So the financial loss to the District caused by Palouse Prairie School, based on the District's estimate is 1% of 50 students is one-half of a student's revenue or about $2500.

MOSCOW: Possibility of layoffs spooks teachers
By Halley Griffin, Daily News staff writer
Posted on: Saturday, January 17, 2009

Hackles are up at Russell Elementary School.

Of the four elementary schools in Moscow, Russell's teachers are the newest, and they are the most likely to be affected if the school district is forced to consider layoffs.

"Just hearing the term (Reduction In Force), it's hard not to get your back up a little," said teacher Melissa Mueller. After four years, she's one of the school's most senior teachers.

Layoffs aren't on the table yet, but Superintendent Candis Donicht will recommend activation of a Reduction in Force policy at Tuesday's school board meeting in response to state budget woes and the opening of Palouse Prairie Charter School next fall.

The RIF policy outlines the procedures for reducing the number of district staff.

"Even if we didn't have the condition of the state, we would still need to downsize staffing for next year because we have a new charter school and some of our students will be going there," Donicht said. "Every school district is going to be affected by the reduced appropriation, and our district has a sort of second event going on as well."

Nils Peterson, chairman of the Palouse Prairie Board of Directors, wrote in an e-mail Friday he has no way of knowing how many students might come out of the Moscow School District. However, he said the 87 spots at Palouse Prairie are most likely to be filled with Moscow students, with some home- or privately schooled students as well.

Donicht said the district anticipates at least 50 students departing for Palouse Prairie, and said her district can't afford to be overstaffed for next fall. With 50 fewer students, the district would need to downsize by about two teachers.

"When people hear the word RIF, they automatically think teachers are going to be getting pink slips," Donicht said. "That isn't necessarily the case."

She said she hopes to be able to account for those positions through retirements or resignations, rather than having to lay off staff.

The Russell teachers hope so too.

"I think the thing that has really been on our minds is we have formed an incredible group," Mueller said, adding that losing staff would be like losing family.

She's especially nervous about first-year teacher Anissa Vreeland, one of the newest to join the staff.

"I was hired late in the summer," Vreeland said. "I feel like I'm last on the list."

Russell teacher Stacy Albrecht said she first got wind of the RIF during Friday's in-service day, and spent a fair amount of time discussing it. When she called her husband, a teacher at Moscow Junior High School, he hadn't yet heard of it.

"That's because it's hitting the elementary schools harder," Mueller said. Palouse Prairie will open this fall to students in kindergarten through fifth grade. If 50 students leave the district, it will be elementary school teachers left without students.

Idaho Public Charter School Commission Chairman Bill Goesling said there are some prominent issues with the effect of a new school on the existing district, but the provisions of the charter school act were designed to expand options for parents.

"It does create some excitement within a district when a charter school opens," Goesling said. "I think that's the challenge: the old way versus the new way; is the old way valid? I think that's one of the ongoing challenges as we continue to increase school choice."

With six new charter schools opening next fall, Idaho will have 37 across the state.

State Department of Education spokeswoman Melissa McGrath said 7,000 students statewide are on waiting lists for charter schools.

Other Idaho school districts have had to adjust to the presence of new schools in the area.

Idaho schools chief Tom Luna addressed patrons of the Gooding School District last week, imploring them not to divide the community over two school options, according to the Twin Falls Times-News.

The district is experiencing a 10-percent enrollment decline from students leaving for a new charter school that opened this fall.

Donicht and the Russell teachers hope the effect on the Moscow School District will be minimal.

"At this point, this is all new to us," Albrecht said. "It's hard not to be a little uncomfortable though."

Halley Griffin can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 239, or by e-mail at hgriffin@dnews.com.

IF YOU GO:

WHEN: 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20

WHERE: Moscow Junior High School music room

WHAT: The Moscow School Board will discuss activating a Reduction In Force for the month of March.