School Committee Votes to Delay Teacher Layoff Notifications

At the April 9 meeting of the Coventry School Committee, members voted once again in favor of moving the layoff notification deadline for school employees from March 1 to June 1 with the reasoning that March 1 is too early in the budget process to see how the district's financial situation is unfolding. The same resolution was passed unanimously last year.

The Committee approved a resolution urging members of the RI General Assembly to pass currently proposed legislation that would make the change official statewide.

"All school districts have not yet had their budget requests ratified by their respective city or town council and this uncertainty requires school districts to issue more layoff notices than are necessary, creating unnecessary anxiety and stress for teachers receiving layoff notices," reads the resolution.

As June 1 is just several weeks prior to the annual Financial Town Meeting, school officials will have had significantly more time to learn about a number of variables that could affect staffing needs, including enrollment numbers, course requests, retirements, state aid and grants - all factors that are strongly considered when dealing with personnel changes.

"The push to June 1 would allow us to figure out our schedule and identify our staffing needs," said Superintendent Mike Almeida. "March 1 creates some harm in that teachers get these letters and think they're out of a job, and then we recall most of them back to their positions some time in May. Some certainly do look at other job possibilities during that time, but most of them do come back." 

Click here for additional coverage of the April 9 School Committee meeting.

The Committee's next meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 23 at the School Administration Offices (1675 Flat River Rd.).