Wa-Nee teachers laid off

By MONICA JOSEPH
monica.joseph@goshennews.com

June 10, 2009 10:44 am

— NAPPANEE — A continuing drop in enrollment at Wa-Nee Community Schools has led to the lay-offs of three elementary school teachers.
The School Board of Trustees voted 5-0 to approve the non-renewal of contracts Monday for Brenda Beehler, grade five, and Jeanne Balogh, grade one, both at Wakarusa Elementary School and JoEllen Merryman, grade two at Nappanee Elementary School.
The board was informed by Superintendent Joe Sabo that the lay-offs, called a Reduction in Force in legal terms, were based on seniority.
The three teachers were informed May 1 of the lay-offs, the date the state requires the notifications must be issued.
Sabo said the staff reduction was needed because of decreasing enrollment, which leads to less money in the school’s general fund, the fund that pays teacher salaries. Enrollment dropped by 78 students from September to May.
“We had to do this to protect our general fund,” Sabo said. “Our goal is to bring them back in some capacity.”
He said the school system will be receive some economic stimulus money, which could be used to fund positions for the laid-off teachers.
The reduction may cause a shuffle of remaining teachers from school to school. For instance, Sabo said, he knows four class sections will be needed for fifth grade at Wakarusa where Beehler worked, but a reduction in sections at Woodview could cause a more senior teacher to be moved to that position.
Enrollment may be down, but ISTEP scores were high in the three elementary schools. The three principals gave an overview of ISTEP results at Monday’s board meeting.
ISTEP scores were above 80 percent at the three schools and all schools made Adequate Yearly Progress this year, a federal designation that is part of No Child Left Behind.
Because of a lack of AYP for special education students at Nappanee Elementary School in two previous years, the school was put into the category of “school improvement” under AYP guidelines, according to Principal Randy Cripe.
The school must meet AYP for one more year to shed that designation.
Cripe said if five more special education students had passed ISTEP two years ago, the school would not have earned that designation.