BY LINDSAY VANHULLE
TRAVERSE CITY -- Eighteen teachers in Traverse City's public schools will be out of a job this September as the district grapples with a looming budget deficit and declining enrollment.
The teachers, all in their first year, are evenly divided between the elementary and secondary levels, said Christine Davis, executive director of human resources for Traverse City Area Public Schools. Five are full-time and 13 are part-time.
School board members voted 7-0 this week to authorize the layoffs.
The number of teachers to be cut is two more than what district officials projected last month. Davis in late May said the district was planning for 16 teacher layoffs, including six full-time and 10 part-time positions.
Eleven teachers chose to retire after this year, far fewer than the roughly 25 teachers who leave on a given year, Davis said, adding that many who are eligible for retirement will stay on for another year because of the economic recession.
Administrators are working on building assignments for next year, and hope to reinstate some of the laid-off teachers throughout the summer, Davis said.
John Scrudato, president of the Traverse City Education Association, said in May that administrators worked with the teachers union to ensure the job cuts were done according to its contract.
The teachers join 20 bus drivers and five transportation aides, whose positions were lost as part of $500,000 in cuts from the department's budget.
The district faces a roughly $3 million shortfall for next year, and board members this spring approved about $2.4 million in cuts.
The layoff notices cap a difficult year that included ongoing contract negotiations between teachers and administrators. Teachers this week told school board members that morale is low.
Contract negotiations will enter mediation Aug. 25 at the union's request.
Scrudato said his team has "drastically reduced" the terms of their proposal, reported in a district memo to be a 3.25 percent annual pay increase, but the district has not countered their latest offer.
Davis would not comment on the bargaining effort.
"After mediation, the parties can resume negotiations, or a settlement could be reached," she said.
