Layoffs likely in 2010-11 in T’bonne public schools

Budget shortfalls have plagued the Terrebonne Parish School Board for most of the year. Sales tax revenues have dwindled, leaving a gap of about $9.2 million. And the state has put the brakes on National Board Certification stipends for teachers, shuffling the burden to the local level.

Student enrollment has also dropped over the last year by about 1,500 students, said Terrebonne school superintendent Philip Martin. But the number of employees has risen.

“When you have declining revenue and increasing expenditures, it catches up to you pretty quickly,” he explained.

The district is now limping. Come next year, it will be missing about $11 million in vital revenue.

In preparation for next year’s budget and the gloomy picture it paints, Martin is asking for board approval on RIF, or a reduction in force. The measure was under consideration at last night’s board meeting.

While in most cases the employee-reduction mechanism doesn’t aim to eliminate certified teachers, it will affect a pack of part-time employees. If enacted, it could also call on scaling back the number of full-time employees that don’t work directly inside the classroom.

Although the measure may seem drastic, officials are beginning to realize the need.

This year, the district’s general fund was exceeded by about $4.2 million, according to Martin.

Steps have been taken to curtail the deficit, but to no avail, as 24 vacant positions were left open this year and about $1 million in capital projects of all shapes and sizes were put on hold.

Louisiana was also denied for a package of federal grants under the Race to the Top program earlier this year, which could have provided help to struggling schools. “That did a crash and burn,” noted Martin.

“I’ve given this many late hours of thought and have come to a conclusion: We have to do RIF,” he explained. “It will be done fairly and with common sense.”

If the procedure is implemented, it will eliminate positions based solely on seniority. Retired teachers’ prior service would not be included in the amount of continuous service and a teacher’s merits or accomplishments would hold no weight in the decision-making process.

“It’s totally by seniority. It’s blind. We don’t get to pick and choose,” explained the superintendent.

Unfortunately, there would be few sectors within the district that would remain unscathed by the changes, added Martin. Some of those changes could even be unwanted.

“You could RIF a good teacher and keep a bad teacher,” said Donald Duplantis, a representative from the 8th District.

The measure would be included as part of the school board’s 2011 budget, which would require board members’ approval.

It’s also a state mandate the district operate on a balanced budget.

Rickie Pitre, 4th District representative, believes there are other ways to come up with the money, including looking more closely at departmentalized budgets and cuts that could be made in those arenas.

“I would like to ask for additional time. We need to look very closely at every source,” he said.