School board to consider teacher layoff plan this week

WOONSOCKET – The School Committee will consider sending out layoff notices to 19 certified teachers as a first step in potential staff changes in the coming year when it meets Wednesday night at the Hamlet middle school building.

The notices typically go out every year as the school department works on its proposed staff assignments within the requirements of its contract with the Woonsocket Teachers Guild and may not reflect the actual number of job reductions that occur by the time the new school year actually begins in the fall.

School Superintendent Patrick McGee could not be reached about the recommended number of notices on Monday but the nonrenewal or termination notices are included on the agenda for Wednesday’s meeting along with non-renewal consideration for two administrative positions.

Jeff Partington, president of the Woonsocket Teachers Guild, said the union has been notified of the pending certified staff notices when asked about the number proposed this year.

The school department expects to lose at least two elementary teaching positions due to the opening of the next elementary grade at the RISE Mayoral Academy in the fall, Partington said, and that will in turn result in the need for additional notifications to allow for seniority-related job shifts, where possible, to accommodate the reductions.

An attempt is made, he explained to displace the least senior teacher in the affected certified position and that may result in a number of shifts in assignments to complete the reduction, he explained.

The job changes are usually resolved with the help of the department’s annual job fair process where certified staff members may use their seniority to bid into the other positions they are qualified to hold, according to Partington.

Some of the other noticed changes may relate to program changes in the district coming with the new school year or other job displacement factors, according to Partington. Usually, the district rehires all but a small number of the staffers affected in any given year, he explained.

This year, Partington said 19 notices maybe slightly higher than normal but he also hopes that most of the affected staff will be recalled before the school year begins.

“We want to make sure that everybody comes back if that is available, and sometimes people have to shift certifications to meet the needs of the district,” he said. “And we want to be sure that they are able to help the district and stay in because we all know they are high quality teachers,” he said.