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Board looks at job cuts
Criteria weighed to trim payroll of school system
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Published: November 25, 2009
With tight economic conditions making cutting the number of school employees for the 2010-11 school year a real possibility, the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school board began looking last night at the possible criteria to use to determine those who would lose their jobs.
In general, job cuts would likely be done by job type.
If individual cuts are necessary, the potential list of criteria presented for the board to consider included evaluations; student-performance data; length of service, giving preference to teachers with National Board Certification; and level of degrees.
Tripp Jeffers, the president of the Forsyth County Association of Educators, which represents the school system's teachers, urged board members not to include such subjective elements as evaluations and to rely more on seniority. Board members Buddy Collins and Jeannie Metcalf expressed reservations about having evaluations and data that included student performance too high on the list.
"The part that bothers me is the subjectivity of some of these things," Metcalf said.
The order of criteria had not yet been determined, school officials said. .
"In no discussion has evaluation been factor No. 1," said Drew Davis, the school system's attorney.
Collins said that he thought that it was important not to act too hastily on such an critical issue, and suggested that the board wait until January rather to take action on a new policy.
Superintendent Don Martin said that something needs to be done by March.
In other business:
□ Board members voted unanimously to fire Ralph David Surridge, a drama teacher at Mineral Springs Middle school, who had been suspended after being charged with felony sexual misconduct. The criminal case is still pending.
□ Martin reported about possible plans to turn Brunson Elementary School into a magnet school. An earlier idea to combine Brunson and Cook elementary schools received strong opposition from parents. Initially, school officials thought that they needed to have a plan in place by December to apply for federal money for magnet programs. The deadline has since been moved to February, Martin said.
□ Board members voted unanimously to accept a bid of $183,839 from EME Industrial Services for the demolition of Moore Elementary School. A new building for Moore is scheduled to open after the first of the year.
kunderwood@wsjournal.com
727-7389
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