The budget cutting axe hit seven Wake County school employees on Tuesday night.
The school board signed off on firing or reassigning seven certified employees for budget reasons. Among the people on the list who were dismissed was Donna Olsen, a teacher trainer in staff development.
Olsen is the wife of Chuck Dulaney, who retired in March as assistant superintendent for growth and planning.
Back in April, the board had agreed to lay off 68 people as part of $20 million in budget cuts. The district had only released then the names of the 52 non-certified staff on the list.
The other 16 people, including Olsen, were certified employees. Their names weren't released then because they had the right to appeal their RIF to the school board.
Following the last appeal hearings on Monday, the board wound up taking final action to seven of the 16 employees on Tuesday. Four were dismissed while three were reassigned to positions with lower pay.
School officials said the other nine people had done things like resign before Tuesday's vote.
To make it clear, because of confusion and rumors in the community, the action taken Tuesday were not above and beyond what the board had agreed to in April.
Comments
Husband and Wife?
Fri, 05/21/2010 - 08:05 — MissVImagine: if Del Burns were still Superintendent we'd still have this husband and wife team. One can only imagine how many other families are eating from the Wake School Board's table who couldn't get employed elsewhere. Yet, after a year of name calling and long meetings you too are entitled to enjoy a vacation.
Who are you to be so mean spirited?
Fri, 05/21/2010 - 18:11 — duvalWhen people dedicate their life to creating a positive change in childrens futures, whether you share their passion and conviction or not, you do not need to slam them because you do not agree with their personal philosophy and point of view.
Certified vs. Non-Certified?
Thu, 05/20/2010 - 13:25 — WakeCountyParentFor the uninformed, could you explain the difference between these two designations?
When employees are released from their contracts due to budget reasons, are they provided with any kind of resources or assistance in securing new jobs? Will the four individuals who were dismissed be given priority consideration if comparable position openings become available in the future, or have they effectively been terminated for cause with a "would not rehire" stamp on their personnel files?
The forgotten certified teachers
Mon, 05/24/2010 - 11:21 — dubiousDon't forget about the dozens of certified classroom teachers who are currently teaching under terminating contracts. Their contracts run out on June 11 and they will be left with nothing. No health insurance, no unemployment benefits, and no assistance or re-hire preference from the district.
Expect serious overcrowding in classrooms again next year. For all of the big talk about preparing kids for the future, it's hard for an 8th grader to learn science in a class of 38.
Hopefully, the new majority
Mon, 05/24/2010 - 12:36 — user12345Hopefully, the new majority moves past lawyers, bell schedules and developing new assignments and gets to retaining teachers, keeping class size small and maintaining / increasing advanced classese and VoTech ... sometimes I feel like these newbies have come to office during huge flood (e.g. financial meltdown) and while people wait for leadership / plans to save lives, they are concentrating on rearranging the boats into zones.
No unemployment?
Mon, 05/24/2010 - 11:53 — Bob_SconceIs that because the contracts are time-limited? That stinks, but I suppose that's the tradeoff you get for not being an at-will employee. They should, at minimum, still be able to get COBRA. And, there's a strong likelihood that they'll be able to get the 65% federal contribution to COBRA.
A re-hire preference is a bad idea -- the district should be able to hire whoever it wants. Some of the terminating teachers may be lousy, and the district shouldn't have to hire them back before hiring a better qualified teacher.
Certified refers to people
Thu, 05/20/2010 - 13:41 — KeungHui (author)Certified refers to people who have to receive certification for their positions, such as teachers and psychologixts. None of the people on the list were classroom teachers but they did have teacher licenses so they were entitled to appeal their RIF.
Thanks for the
Thu, 05/20/2010 - 16:53 — WakeCountyParentThanks for the clarification. Do you have a comment regarding my other question?
I don't know and since I'm
Thu, 05/20/2010 - 18:29 — KeungHui (author)I don't know and since I'm heading out on vacation it's not something I'm going to find anytime soon. I don't think there's anything that would bar them from being rehired.