Group of Residents Lobbies Ferndale Public Schools to Keep Secretaries Slated for Layoffs

Everyone agrees secretaries – described as the beating heart that keep schools pumping and "de facto moms" – play an important role in the Ferndale Public Schools district, but beyond that point it gets murkier.

The Board of Education, working to keep the district in the black, recently approved a 2013-2014 budget that eliminates five secretarial positions for a savings of $315,241, but opponents say the cuts pose a security risk and will create an unreasonable workload for the remaining secretaries.

In addition to performing administrative tasks, secretaries know who's coming in and going out of the building, care for sick or injured students, and often provide a first line of security, FPS parent Brad Parks said.

The secretaries' are among 18 positions being eliminated for a savings of approximately $1.3 million. Laying off one contracted bookkeeper and three contracted part-time administrators will save an additional $107,508.

"There's just nothing left to cut. Districts are being forced to make choices that are unacceptable (such as eliminating programs, raising class sizes or cutting teachers and secretaries)," FPS Board of Education member Karen Twomey said. "There's no better funding coming from the state, which is why strategic planning is so important. We're in a temporary rough spot."

Approximately a dozen parents attended the June 27 meeting at the Harding Administration Building during which the budget was approved.

"Everybody got up and said, 'If you're going to make cuts, it's not the way to go,' " Parks said. "The secretaries are like the face of the school."

Parks said he would prefer for the district to keep the secretaries and, instead, increase its Schools of Choice admissions to bring in more revenue.

The Board of Education voted earlier this year to reduce the number of new Schools of Choice students who may enroll in Ferndale Public Schools for the 2013-2014 academic year, a move that was expected to cost the district approximately $259,000.

"If they made cuts to sports, sports people would be upset; if they cut music, the music people would be upset," Parks said. "Obviously, no matter what you cut, you're going to have someone upset. Everybody wants the same thing."

According to a budget report prepared by FPS Executive Director of Finance Maureen Adams, one of the eliminated secretarial positions is vacant and the others potentially could reduced through attrition.

Twomey said layoff notices won't go out until late July after the deadline for employees to take advantage of retirement incentives has passed, which could save some jobs.

"We're hoping that when enrollments (for the 2013-2014 academic year) start being confirmed, we will be able to put some elementary teachers and secretaries back into the budget," Twomey added.

But, Board of Education President Jim O'Donnell said the board will decide how to allocate funds based on what best serves students, whether that means calling back secretaries or buying new science equipment.

"Secretaries do have an important role in the buildings, so we take the loss of the secretarial positions very seriously," O'Donnell said.

Board of Education Finance Committee member Rob Bokram, whose wife Jean Bokram is secretary at Coolidge Intermediate School, said he attended the June 27 meeting to argue against laying off the teachers and secretaries.

"All of us are concerned about there being less than two secretaries in a building because of safety and their workload," Bokram said. "They're ambassadors, they're counselors, they're nurses, they're de facto moms." 

He added: "I don't like the idea of my wife being alone in the building and being the first person someone would see if some nutcase came into the building." 

Bokram echoed Parks' objections to curbing Schools of Choice enrollment  and said the budget was based on assumptions about enrollment – including at the Digital Learning Center, where the district is challenging a state decision to disqualify some students for funding during the 2012-2013 year – which could change. 

But, O'Donnell said the budget is "very realistic" when it comes to enrollment assumptions and dismissed a possible increase in DLC students as a way to fund the secretarial positions.

"Revenue from increased enrollment at the Digital Learning Center would go toward those students and not be siphoned off for other purposes," he said.

However, O'Donnell said the district will re-examine what role secretaries play in school safety.

"Our administrative team is constantly working on reviewing security measures. There are always plans in place to keep the buildings safe and secure," he said. "We're going to take what people say seriously and take another look at the roles and responsibilities we have with respect to security and make sure all of the secretaries' functions  are covered." 

Twomey said the Board of Education is sympathetic to calls to keep the secretaries.

"The secretary cuts are personal to all of us on the board," she said. "We know they're they heart of the schools - they keep everything pumping and running."