New Haven Schools to Rehire at Least 20 Teachers

Despite uncertainty surrounding the state’s new budget plan, the New Haven Teachers Association announced Wednesday that it was in negotiation with the school district to rehire at least 20 teachers .

The partially replenished staff would allow the district to maintain K-2 classrooms at a ratio of 25 students per teacher, according to Charmaine Kawaguchi, president of the New Haven Teachers Association. Third grade classes will be staffed 30 to 1, she said.

“We’ve taken a leap of good faith and we’re hoping that the state doesn’t cut us any further,” Kawaguchi said. “We’re doing what’s right by our children by putting the classes back at the small size.”

In March, the district issued layoff notices to 61 multiple subject teachers. An additional five counseling positions, three English teachers, three science teachers and an art teacher were initially cut but have already been rehired, with the exception of two counseling positions, Kawaguchi said. The district had hired more counselors than required in their contract, so the schools would not be understaffed in regards to counselors, she added.

There is a possibility that more teachers may be rehired, Kawaguchi said. She said that the teachers' association will also work to provide substitute teaching and other auxiliary positions for laid-off staff who can’t be brought back full-time.

“We’re pretty sure we can get the rest of them work,” she said.

The move comes less than a month after state legislators approved a new budget plan, along with a new education bill prohibiting additional teachers from behing laid off if mid-year budget cuts are required.

The bill has drawn criticism and concern from members of the school community.

“It’s pretty complicated and it’s pretty ridiculous,” said spokesman Rick La Plante.

AB 114, a bill passed at the last minute without any public scrutiny on June 30, requires districts to maintain the same level of staffing and programming in the 2011-12 school year as they did last year, which leaves NHUSD with tough decisions to make between now and the start of the school year, La Plante said.

“It’s delayed us in our decision on whether we should staff our classes with ratios decided in June, or staff them higher,” La Plante said last week.

In June, the district approved a conditional budget based on an earlier version of the state budget plan. .

While the district will move forward as planned in their conditional budget, the state’s funding of K-12 education is based largely on the assumption that the state will receive an additional $4 billion in revenues.

AB 114 contains a number of “trigger” reductions in the case money comes in short.

If state revenues fall below $2 billion by January 2012, cuts would trickle down to the K-12 level. In that scenario, the state would make an additional $1.8 billion in cuts to K-12 education in the middle of the year, according to La Plante.

That could result in an additional $2.8 million shortfall for NHUSD, La Plante said. The district would be forced to resolve those cuts mid-year without laying off teachers or cutting programs as a stipulation of AB 114.

“We have no guarantee that we won’t have to make mid-year cuts,” La Plante said. “We want desperately to bring back our teachers as soon as possible, but with this ticking time bomb, it’s hard to say what will happen.”

“We try to do the right thing for the children. That priority hasn’t changed, it’s just harder to do,” he said.

Instead of teacher layoffs, AB 114 would allow the school year to be reduced up to seven days. However, this would have to be determined on a district-by-district basis due to negotiations with teacher unions, La Plante said.

Kawaguchi said if mid-year cuts are required, the teachers' association and district will be forced to go back to the bargaining table, but she hopes it doesn’t come to that.

“We’re hoping and praying that the cuts don’t come to fruition,” Kawaguchi said. “It’s our belief that revenues will reach $2 billion and K-12 education will be safe from any cuts.”