Budget leaves elementary students wondering: Who's our teacher next year?

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July 2, 2009

Budget impact: K-5 students don't yet know

By Bethany Bray

Andover teachers and administration are playing an immense game of musical chairs this summer, and the music hasn't stopped yet.

Every school in town has been affected as Superintendent Claudia Bach has laid off the equivalent of 44.7 full time positions. Now, as the dust settles, principals will spend the summer figuring out their staffing configuration for the fall.

"We're still figuring out the placement of everyone. It's taken dozens of meetings," said Bach. "It's been unbelievable, and we're still not done. It's been logistically difficult, and painful."

A by-product of the staffing fluctuations is that elementary students were not given their teacher assignments for next year, assignments that have been sent home with end-of-school report cards in previous years.

"It doesn't seem to matter really to me whether they get teacher assignments now or just find out when she starts in September," said Michelle Rota, whose 6-year-old daughter, Kaylee, is going into first-grade at South Elementary. "A lot of parents seem to be upset about it and I can't seem to understand why. Maybe it's because I haven't experienced it any other way. I was very impressed with South School, Kaylee had a great (kindergarten) year and I didn't have any issues."

"We've done this in years past, and parents have been wonderfully supportive. They understand," said Bach. "Yes, it's nice if your child knows they'll have Mr. Jones next year. But it's worse if they show up to school thinking they have Mr. Jones and they don't (because of staffing changes)."

Many more than 44 people make up the 44.7 positions cut for next year - Bach said she did not yet know the exact number. Some people will retain jobs but may have their hours cut, or find themselves teaching a different subject or grade level.

Bach compared the challenge to a giant jigsaw puzzle, where "some of the pieces don't quite fit."

"It's been difficult and the morale in every school has been affected," said Bach. "But, at the same time, I've also been to retirement parties and end of school events, and it's amazing how resilient and flexible people are. Many, many people have come up to me and said, 'Thank you for saving my job.' I feel awful that someone even has to say that, frankly."

In April, pink slips went out to 123 people - every teacher in Andover hired within the last three years. As required by contract, teachers knew by May 15 who would not return next year. The remaining staff layoffs were finalized last week, said Bach.

Teachers with "professional" status, who have been teaching in Andover for more than three years, were not laid off, said Bach. If a veteran teacher were in a position slated to be cut, such as health or music, they were reassigned instead, taking the place of a teacher who is "preprofessional," or has worked in Andover fewer than three years. The rookie teacher would face the lay off instead.

Bach gave the example of several middle school librarians facing layoffs. As employees with professional status, they were moved to other schools, becoming elementary librarians or classroom teachers, bumping rookie teachers.

"A lot of people have more than one teaching license," explained Bach. "They're feeling awful that they've replaced someone else, and they're leaving colleagues and moving schools."

Teachers with professional status could only be laid off if they could not teach another subject or there were no preprofessional teachers they could bump, said Bach.

The first day of school in Andover will be Sept. 3, and several of the elementary schools have already scheduled open houses for the first week of September for students to receive classroom assignments and meet their teachers.

West Elementary Principal Liz Roos, who lives in Andover, said not knowing teacher assignments until August used to be commonplace.

"Children take their leads from their parents," said Roos. "I have two Bancroft students in my family who do not know their teachers, and one is at a sleep over and playing, the other is packing for camp."