Superintendent Aaron Moran said earlier that the total cost reduction from staffing measures, if approved, would be around $1.6 million. Other measures including savings from the building closing, some increased revenues in property taxes and not spending as much overall is projected to bring total savings to approximately $2.6 million.
Before its discussions and votes, the school board — with three of its five members newly elected this year — heard from representatives of teachers and a former teacher.
The proposal before the board included cutting 18.5 certified positions (teachers, therapists, counselors); two administrative jobs; six classified positions (such as secretaries, aides, etc.); and closing the school that is slated for demolition as part of the upcoming district school building project. A bond issue to construct a new prekindergarten through grade 8 building was approved by voters in March.
Brenda Mahaney, a 26-year teacher, read a statement to the board from the Tipp City Education Association membership.
Five days after district voters passed the bond issue, it was announced the district would be cutting 18.5 teachers or about 13.5 percent of that staff, she said.
“There is a growing sense that other budget cuts were not explored,” Mahaney said, adding the association realizes the need to be fiscally responsible but remains concerned about a mass exodus of staff and a talent drain.
“We must ask why, why 18.5 teachers, why so suddenly? In the past, staff have been the last cuts made. Why is it now the first cut mentioned and explored?” she said.
Former teacher Lynn Shirk, now retired, said staff and the community were told that with new administrators in the district and new board members, there would be more transparency.
Her friends and former coworkers feel “blindsided” by the proposals, Shirk said.
School board member Rick Mains made an emotional statement in which he said he had been “thinking deep and hard” about the proposals. “I don’t like what is going on,” said Mains, who joined the board in 2021. He asked fellow board members to take more time to look at options and include “a deep study.”
New board member Angie McMurry said she would like to see the updated district financial forecast that comes out in May.
“I don’t think this is easy,” she said, recalling how she lost her job with the district in a 2012 reduction in force. She, too, asked for a deeper look at costs and options.
“What I do ask of you is that you respect us and trust that we are doing what’s right,” McMurry said.
Another new board member, Cindy Wilson Dillard, pointed out the reductions proposed for board action Tuesday included an administrator’s position (director of human resources) and four non-teaching positions.
“Our deficit is not something that is going to go away,” she said. “There are difficult decisions … We have been looking at staffing, buildings, enrollment.”
School district leadership and the teachers union are currently involved in negotiations on their next contract, as the existing deal between the parties expires July 31.
The votes on Tuesday’s issues were unanimous. The school board’s next meeting is a work session scheduled for May 6.
Contact this contributing writer at nancykburr@aol.com
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