The Examiner U-46 News FeedU-46 approves dismissal of 381 teachers, staff By Seth Hancock
The Board of Education in School District U-46 unanimously approved reduction in force resolutions to send dismissal notices to 381 staff members over its three March meetings.
The board voted 7-0 on one resolution at the March 2 meetings and eight resolutions on March 9, and it voted 6-0, board member Donna Smith was absent, on two resolutions on March 16 which was held electronically with all board members in attendance over the phone due to shutdown orders from the state over COVID-19, a foreign-born strain of the coronavirus originating in Wuhan, China.
Ann Chan, assistant superintendent for human resources, said these were annual resolutions and “dismissal consideration is customary at this time of year in order to follow state requirements.” She said dismissed staff can reapply for positions for the next school year.
The first resolution on March 2 authorized the honorable dismissal of 92 teachers.
“These individuals were the pre-tenured teachers hired into part time positions. One-semester only positions, one-year only positions and temporary instructional positions or they were late hires. They did not complete a full school year with you.”
The March 9 resolutions included three administrative resolutions which Chan and Superintendent Tony Sanders effectively assured those individuals they will be rehired for new positions next year. Those included five non-renewal of administrative contracts and reassignment of tenured administrators, three total non-renewal of administrative contracts and reassignment of tenured principals and assistant principals and two total non-renewal of first, second and third year non-tenured administrators all due to program restructuring.
Chan said these are “a result of our continuing effort to complete our secondary restructuring. These positions will be closing at the end of the school year, and we are encouraging all of the administrators that are effected in these three resolutions to apply for these new roles for the next school year.”
“These are valued administrators within our system,” Sanders said. “We will expedite the process of the selection for this new restructuring. I want to make it clear for the public this is only due to restructuring… and we do value these administrators, and we will be working to get them placed as quickly as we can.”
Also approved on March 9 was authorizing the honorable dismissal of 72 education support personnel for funded projects, honorable dismissal of 52 teachers, non-renewal of 33 first through third year probationary teachers, notice of dismissal to four final-year probationary teachers and the non-renewal of administrative contract and reassignment of one tenured administrator.
The March 16 meeting included resolutions concerning the SAFE program, a before and after school program, which the district is outsourcing to Right at School.
The first included the honorable dismissal of 115 support personnel due to the program restructuring.
“This resolution is specific to people who work on a part-time basis, mostly as extra-duty work that teachers and other take on that would provide afterschool programming,” Sanders said. “These employees will also be eligible to be employed by the new vendor that’s taking over our before and after school program.”
The second resolution that evening was for honorable dismissal of two SAGE program secretaries who were members of the District U-46 Secretarial Association union.
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