In addition, two elementary buildings — Northern Hills and Lincoln — will be closing as attendance centers next school year.
“It’s all a part of grade reconfiguration. As a part of this, we have studied our offerings at especially the high school and the junior high, making sure we’re offering the things that . . . match the strength and endorsements of our teachers. Based upon that information, we started to look at teachers and where they would fit, and then we started to make reassignments based on those things,” Hastings said.
Hastings said many of the uprooted teachers are moving to different buildings, but their assignments remain the same. For example, a seventh-grade teacher who now works at the middle school will likely continue to teach seventh grade when that class is moved into the junior high, Hastings said.
The high school, the junior high and the middle school will have the most shuffling of teachers, Hastings said. The high school will see 15 to 20 teachers moving in, and the junior high and middle school will each have about 15 to 20 teachers moving out as well as 15 to 20 teachers moving in. Hastings said the administration attempted to place each teacher who had to move in the classroom he or she preferred.
“Toward the beginning of this school year, we gave teachers the opportunity to share with us what their preferences would be for the changes. . . . Then, in about January, we released a staffing plan that gave teachers more information about the specific jobs that were going to be available and where,” Hastings said.
The administration again asked teachers to provide information on where they wanted to move, Hastings said.
“Then, administratively, we sat down and started trying to fit those pieces of the puzzle together. We were able to place a lot of people in their areas of preference, but there were some people we couldn’t. Maybe there were multiple people who were interested in the same job or something like that,” Hastings said. “So we had to make our best judgment based upon what we knew about those teachers and the needs of the students at those grade levels.”
Other staff members also will be shuffled throughout the district, but the administration has not yet released who will move and where to. During Monday night’s regular school board meeting, Hastings said the classified staffing plan is being developed by administrators.
“Needs in all classified areas are currently being studied, including classroom paraprofessionals, SPED (special education), Title I, ELL (English Language Learning), health services, clerical, food service and maintenance in all buildings including the central office,” Hastings said.
Regarding the teachers who had to be moved from their current classrooms, Hastings said, “All staff members who have not resigned have been given assignments for the upcoming year.”
There have been no staffing cuts, he said.
