Anticipating another sharp dip in student enrollment, Pinellas County school district officials have begun cutting the number of staff they will employ in the fall.
“We’re losing about 4,200 kids next year,” deputy superintendent Stephanie Woodford said. “It’s basically a math problem.”
The district also requires fewer workers in certain jobs as it closes and consolidates campuses.
About 250 teaching positions will be eliminated, Woodford said. Notifications started going out to faculty members earlier this month. Pinellas, currently the state’s ninth-largest district, also reduced its staffing last year as it saw its student numbers decline by a similar amount.
The plan does not include laying off anyone, relying largely on attrition, though Woodford made clear that some people could lose their jobs for other reasons. A year ago, principals non-renewed about 160 teachers, and this year the figure is close to the same so far.
For the most part, Woodford said, the scenario entails letting employees know if their school no longer will have their position available and they can apply for vacancies at different locations.
“They would go to the (job) pool like they normally do,” she said. “It’s no different than any other year.”
Tracey McConnell, president-elect of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association, said the situation is rattling morale. She questioned whether the district is using contract non-renewals to avoid imposing a formal reduction in force, which would require extra steps set forth in contract.
McConnell said she hoped to negotiate in the fall for increased job security, particularly for teachers who receive strong evaluations. State senators this spring proposed the idea of longer contracts for educators rated effective or better, but the measure did not advance in the House.
Bell schedules
The school board approved shifting start times for four schools including Largo Middle, which will begin classes two hours earlier in the fall. Officials said they made sure Largo Middle will have enough space in its after-school programs for students who need them.