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Apr 5, 2011

Fort Bend ISD lays off 68 employees, says more cuts likely to come | abc13.com

Fort Bend ISD lays off 68 employees, says more cuts likely to come | abc13.com

http://www.click2houston.com/news/27430509/detail.html

So far, the real number here is over 400.  Those on probationary contracts had no choice but to leave, and those on term contracts were strongly encouraged to resign.  The district has until April 18, 2011 following the 45 calendar day rule to finish notifying teachers that they will be laid off due to reduction in force.

http://www.fortbendisd.com/finance/budget2011/Salary%20Percentages%20Chart.pdf

The question that many FBISD employees are asking is, "when and how are they cutting administrative positions or salaries".  If the district cuts teachers across the board and is concerned about the impact that will have on students, if Dr. Jenney truly cares about class sizes of forty or more, they should look at every opportunity to reduce the budget before they cut teachers.  This should include the more than fifteen percent of the budget that works on Lexington Avenue.
The school board said it would have preferred not to cut teachers first but they really had no choice because state law mandates that teachers not being retained the following year must know about it with at least 45 days remaining in the current school year. 
Being "forced" into cutting teachers because of the State of Texas' forty five day rule is a sorry excuse to keep from taking responsibility for the damage the majority on the board of trustees and Dr. Jenny are going to do to Fort Bend Independent School District.

8 comments:

  1. I totally agree. Well said.

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  2. Based on this information below, it appears that many administrators should and can be cut.

    http://www.texastribune.org/library/data/government-employee-salaries/fort-bend-isd/

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  3. Any of these folks getting a pink slip?

    http://hamptonroads.com/2010/04/tim-jenney-reaches-texas-hire-beach-administrators

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  4. By contrast, look how McKinney isd is prioritizing cus:


    Here's the list of employment areas McKinney ISD will review as it looks to cut jobs because of declining funding from the state:

    * Central Office Human Resources Department coordinators and support personnel
    * Central Office Student Services Division
    * Central Office internal auditing services and/or departments
    * Central Office Communications Department support personnel
    * Central Office Superintendent's support personnel
    * Business Services support personnel
    * Support Services support personnel
    * Central Office Childcare Programs, support personnel
    * Central Office programs and/or departments that provide support for Elementary and Secondary Education instruction, programs, departments, and/or services
    * LINC Program
    *Districtwide programs and/or departments funded by ARRA and HS Allotment funding
    * Secondary career / technology and regular education instructional programs, courses and/or departments with low student enrollment (15 students or less), excluding AP and dual college credit courses
    * All level campus library aide programs
    * All level campus nursing programs
    * Elementary physical education instructional program and/or department
    * Secondary business information management instructional program and/or department

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  5. RE: McKinney
    Do you have a source for this information about McKinney ISD? I'd like to explore it. Thanks,
    the author

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  6. I heard that the administrators lay off teachers at random, is that true? If so, why do they not confer with the school campus on who they should cut?

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  7. It varies between districts. FBISD laid off based on 1) Certification 2) PDAS evaluation 3) Hours of outside training. However, PDAS evals are often arbitrary, always subjective, and never consistent. A teacher without any low scores on evaluations could have easily gotten laid off (and did).

    RE:I heard that the administrators lay off teachers at random, is that true? If so, why do they not confer with the school campus on who they should cut?

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  8. Totally agree with the PDAS comment, but the supposed criteria they told us they'd use wasn't always followed. I know people who were laid off who were fully certified while those who hadn't even taken their certification exam were kept.

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