Harwood School Board chair Scott Mackey said the RIF notifications are
something that "unfortunately we have to do sometimes for budget
reasons."
NOT YET KNOWN
Since Harwood's contract
with the teacher's union is currently unresolved and set to expire at
the end of this school year, the board decided to send RIF notices in
order to preserve flexibility since the contractual costs and benefits
aren't yet known.
RIF notices were issued to the most junior
member of each department with the exception of the math and science
departments; Mackey said the exception was the result of an existing
vacancy based on a retirement.
AVOID DEFICIT SPENDING
"We
issued notices this month to have the flexibility to address
contractual obligations so we can avoid deficit spending since there is
uncertainty around the contract," Mackey said.
The issuance of
RIF notices is solely based on seniority through the contract that the
union and the school board operate under, according to Mackey.
The
uncertainty of the board members combined with the school's fixed
budget and lack of an agreement in place for next year in part caused
the board to send RIF notices until contractual obligations are
resolved.
A FINAL CONTRACT
Mackey said that the
issuance of RIFs is somewhat of a technicality; the board cannot offer
employment without a final contract-rather they offer what is a called a
"letter of intent" that relays the board's desire to rehire teachers.
Teachers who received RIF notices did not receive a letter of intent.
Letters
of intent serve as placeholders of sorts. Mackey said, "If there was a
contract in place, we'd be sending out binding contracts with terms,
salary and health insurance."
Just because a teacher was issued a
RIF notice doesn't mean they may not be hired, Mackey said.
CONTRACT
IS SETTLED
"Once the contract is settled we'll look at where
we stand budget-wise," he continued.
This doesn't happen every
year, according to Mackey; it only happens when the contract hasn't been
resolved by mid-April. The length of the current contract, set to
expire in a matter of months, was two years.
Mackey said that
the board is hopeful that the issue will be resolved soon.
"We're
continuing to resolve the contract; we hope to have it resolved ideally
before July 1."
The RIF notices went to the following teachers
on April 8:
Rodger Coupe - technology education; Laura
Huss-Steils - family and consumer science; Matthew Henchen - social
studies; Sam Krotinger - art; Lisa Lemieux - guidance; Brian Moody -
physical education/family and consumer science; Dan Morse - English;
Rachel Potts - co-op/vocational education; Federico Rodriguez - foreign
language; and Bruce Sklar - music.
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