WMCTC Reduced Hours, Job Cuts Discussed

At Monday night's Joint Operating Committee meeting for the , reduced hours and job cuts became a concern with faculty members and the board.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, teacher Steve Bruno spoke on behalf of a Western Center teacher and two instructional aides who are slated to have their hours reduced or their positions eliminated in the next school year's budget.

Bruno said that school-to-work coordinator Paul Woodman's work and community connections are very important for the school. Woodman's position would be cut from full-time to part-time under the new budget. Bruno said that in addition to other duties, Woodman's work helps students find opportunities with local businesses. 

The school would also lose its two instructional aides, Patrick Rowland and Cindy McDaniel, under the new budget. 

McDaniel also spoke, explaining that she and Rowland are the only two aides in the school, and cutting their positions would place an undue burden on the rest of the staff and on the three sending districts. McDaniel and Rowland assist students who need special attention, such as extra time taking tests or having class materials read aloud to them.

Committee member Edward Dressler, representing the Spring-Ford Area School District, asked how much would need to be put back into the budget in order to keep the positions. 

The figure, approximately $200,000, includes salary and benefits for the three teachers and would be shared proportionally among the three districts.

"The more we reduce staff, the less kids will want to come here," Joseph Ciresi, who also represents Spring-Ford, stated.

School Director Joe Greb said that he has never supported overstaffing, and that retaining the three positions would be valuable.

While they took no official action, the committee generally agreed to revisit the cuts, with several members requesting information on what their district's cost would be.

Also at the meeting, Greb presented several students with certificates of recognition for their . 

SkillsUSA is an organization that assists vocational schools with developing instructional programs, holds local, state and national competitions for students in many fields, including health care, carpentry, advertising design, computer maintenance technology and other areas.

Each student explained a little about their competition and told the board and the audience in which school district they attend high school.

The committee discussed the school's $305,323 budget surplus and whether to reduce that surplus or leave it in the budget.

Committee chairman Bill Scott said that reducing the surplus would increase the contributions that each school district makes to the center's operating budget.

"The surplus was put in place so there would be money for emergencies, but we did away with [districts contributing to] it three or four years ago," Scott said.

Ciresi said that when most of the committee members got on the board several years ago, prior to the renovations, the surplus was necessary because of the condition of the building.

Now that the building has been renovated, "we should start building a reserve for future issues," Ciresi said.

Signage was also heavily discussed during the meeting.

The school and JOC are looking at plans to put a lighted sign on the Graterford Road side of the building, as well as one above the Escoffier Dining Room restaurant and one out on the edge of the property on Graterford Road.

Graterford Road resident John Swarr spoke when the committee asked for public comment on the sign issue.

"This isn't a high traffic area," Swarr said. "I don't want a lit sign in front of my house."

Resident Bob Whittendorf agreed with his neighbor and questioned whether the board had looked into using a solar power system for the sign instead of running electric cables.

Several committee members also expressed that while they supported new signs as promotional tools for the school, they wanted any lights to be on a timer so that they aren't on 24 hours a day.