\u201cThe bar isn\u2019t just to say we\u2019re going to just cut to make things right as a school district and live within our budget,\u201d Smith said. \u201cOur job is actually to evolve, live within our budget but also make things exceptional.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cuts included positions across all levels of schooling, as well as some in the district office.<\/p>\n
Cafeteria monitors and STEM lab managers were the positions with the most cuts. Both served at the elementary level.<\/p>\n
As a former teacher, Smith said he understands parents\u2019 concerns about the extra workload for classroom instructors. The district will need to split the responsibilities among staff members, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no intention of just placing 100% of the burden of a position that\u2019s no longer there on another person,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He added that while STEM lab managers were great to have in Arlington ISD, but that the position was a support role most other districts don\u2019t have. The cuts won\u2019t disrupt AISD\u2019s STEM teaching, he said.<\/p>\n
Smith first announced the cuts in a May 7 email to district staff. In the email, he detailed the reductions that led to a 3% decrease in campus budgets and a 6% reduction in administrative budget expenses. The cuts resulted in $14,485,220 in cost savings, according to data obtained through records requests.<\/p>\n
District leaders also cut assistant principals at five high schools and three elementaries, according to records.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The cuts left each of the three affected elementary schools with one assistant principal each, according to the district\u2019s website. Venture High School, an alternative education campus, will also have one assistant principal. The other impacted high schools have either five or six.<\/p>\n
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Staffing ratios and enrollments at each campus, as well as a comparison of staffing between Arlington ISD and other school districts, determined the cuts, Smith said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve realized over the course of 14-plus years now in Arlington ISD that our enrollment has been declining by over 1,000 students a year, and we\u2019ve talked about it at many board meetings,\u201d Smith said. \u201cWe had to start taking a look at: Does our staffing actually match the number of students that we have in the system, and is it sustainable in the long term?\u201d<\/p>\n
In the May 7 email, Smith said affected employees could apply for open positions within the district. He added that employees who had contracts would be reassigned to a role aligned with their current job.<\/p>\n
Smith said he didn\u2019t know the exact number of impacted employees who secured a different AISD job. He emphasized that the district wanted to keep as many employees as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe meant it when we said it: We actually want our people here,\u201d Smith said. \u201cWe have vacancies in our system; they just didn\u2019t align with the positions. They weren\u2019t in that same position, so we had to ask people to think about what other positions they might be interested in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Staff cuts aren\u2019t the only place where Arlington ISD leaders are having to slash costs due to the major budget shortfall.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trustees voted not to give employees raises<\/a> in the upcoming school year, after at least five years of pay increases that thrust Arlington ISD\u2019s base teacher salary to the top in North Texas.<\/p>\n Hogan, the mom with daughters at Hill Elementary, attended Arlington ISD from kindergarten through graduation.<\/p>\n Four years ago, as she looked at schools for her children, she thought about sending them to a charter school but ultimately decided she\u2019d rather support AISD.<\/p>\n Hogan\u2019s interest in public education pushed her to speak out about the cuts during a school board meeting. She wasn\u2019t alone in that endeavor.<\/p>\n In the meetings following the May reorganization, other parents, students and employees asked the district to reverse course.<\/p>\n Michelle Sellers, who was the STEM lab manager at Burgin Elementary, told trustees May 20 that she and others in that job contributed much more to the campuses than some think.\u00a0<\/p>\n Losing the positions could have wide-ranging consequences, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWithout a STEM lab manager, there will be a significant gap between the district\u2019s STEM identity and the reality in practice,\u201d Sellers told trustees.<\/p>\n At the June 4 school board meeting, Bowie High School teacher Carl Howell brought notes from students praising a counselor at the south Arlington school whose position was cut.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have the chance to leave people here who inspire and make other kids want to come to the district,\u201d Howell said.<\/p>\n Hogan said the future of Arlington ISD is difficult to think about as a parent.<\/p>\n \u201cNot knowing if our school is going to close or where we will end up is very, very stressful,\u201d Hogan said. \u201cI don\u2019t want my kids to have to change schools in the middle of elementary school. It\u2019s a big enough deal now that we\u2019re moving the sixth grade to junior high. I don\u2019t want to also have to worry about which of these schools might be closing or reducing staff.\u201d<\/p>\n Arlington ISD isn\u2019t the only district dealing with enrollment and budgetary issues, but the district needs to change and face its new reality, Smith said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have this appropriations deficit in our state that we know is real, we have this inflation that we know is real and we have a changing situation with the number of kids entering school,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s our job to start to evolve and figure out how to do things differently.\u201d<\/p>\n Smith said he understands that cuts are personal for people, but additional reorganization and cuts are on the table as the district looks to adjust to the right size for the students it serves.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re looking at everything from positions to pay to buildings to how we all work together and do business differently, and it\u2019s going to be messy. It just is. I wish it wasn\u2019t,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI can\u2019t control some of those things. I want to focus on the things we can control and try and treat people as well as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n Chris Moss is a reporter for the Arlington Report. Contact him at chris.moss@arlingtonreport.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n