ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 16, 1997 TAG: 9704160051
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BEDFORD
SOURCE: JOANNE POINDEXTER THE ROANOKE TIMES
MEMO: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.
Fourteen teachers are likely to lose their jobs as the School Board attempts to cut its budget.
Forty-three teachers and school administrators in Bedford County were notified Tuesday they will either lose their jobs, take a pay cut or be reassigned next year as the School Board attempts to cut its budget.
School Superintendent John Kent said letters to 29 teachers and 14 administrators were hand-delivered Tuesday, the deadline for schools to notify employees of contract changes. The School Board has not voted on the personnel changes.
School Board members began trying to adjust the school budget Monday night after the Bedford County Board of Supervisors adopted an $86.4 million budget, which reduced the School Board's budget request by $4.4 million.
"This should [make it] obvious that education is not a priority in Bedford County," Kent said of the board's cuts. "We'll lose some quality people."
These personnel cuts total $1.6 million and primarily include classroom teachers, teacher aides, guidance counselors, visiting teachers and programs such as adult education, summer and elementary art education. The administrative positions will be from the schools and the central office, Kent said. These people will be offered teaching jobs.
Fifteen of the teachers affected have 12-month contracts that are being changed to 11 months, Kent said. These are teachers in programs such as agriculture, marketing, industrial cooperative, auto mechanics and licensed practical nursing, said school board member Shirley McCabe.
That leaves 14 teachers who are likely to lose their jobs.
Making the $1.6 million cut "was an extremely hard thing to do and we still need to cut another $3 million," said school board member Donna Templeton.
"This means we are going to put some good people possibly out of a job," said school board member Wes Gordon. "I'm not sure any of these are engraved in stone. We may find some trade-offs, but we are going to have to make some serious cuts."
Bedford has 746 teachers in 21 schools. The School Board submitted a $54.4 million budget to the Board of Supervisors, which reduced it to $50 million. The supervisors also included $750,000 in the county budget for school repairs.
This is the first time in about 10 years the board has had to cut personnel to adjust the budget, Kent said Tuesday. He anticipates more personnel changes as the School Board tries to adjust the budget.
"It's a continuing battle, and we keep losing," said Julia Hayth, president of the Bedford County Education Association. She credited the School Board with working hard on a budget that would have compensated teachers well for the first time in a long time. The School Board has proposed an average 5.87 percent raise for teachers.
"It's like fighting a lost cause," she said of the supervisors' cuts to the budget.
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