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Light Rain More Lawrence cuts are coming
Universal Pre-K and high school positions to be pared and a period dropped
With a decline in revenue of $4.3 million, including substantial drops in federal and state aid, and expenses expected to increase by approximately $2 million due to salary hikes and health insurance payments, the Lawrence School District is planning to cut jobs for the second straight school year.
Last year, the district eliminated administrative positions and had several administrators doubling up on duties. This year, Lawrence is proposing to cut five or more teachers from its Universal Pre-Kindergarten program as well as the program’s nine teacher-aides, lay off a handful of teachers at the high school and reduce the number of periods there from nine to eight.
There are a total of nine teachers in the pre-K program, which is housed in the Number Four School. To maintain the state-funded program, the district is seeking to share teaching duties by partnering with either Hofstra or St. Joseph’s College and bringing in teachers who graduated from those schools’ education programs and who hold dual master’s certifications. Universal Pre-K is not state mandated, so the district is permitted to out-source the program, Schall said.
“The key here is it affects the adults,” said Schall, referring to the teachers and aides who will be let go, “but the parents and the children at Number Four School will not feel a difference.”
The cost of the current pre-K program exceeds the annual state grant of $560,000, Schall said. Based on district figures, pre-K teachers cost between $75,000 and $100,000 each per year, and a teacher-aide costs $20,000.
“We will find a way to deliver pre-K in line with what the district can afford, what has been consistent and reasonable,” said Dr. Asher Mansdorf, president of the Lawrence Board of Education.
Officials also plan to cut five to nine teachers at the high school, while reducing the number of periods to eight. The “professional period” teachers are given would be eliminated, and the time would instead be used for classroom instruction. These changes are expected to save the district $1.25 million, according to Lawrence Superintendent Gary Schall.
