Jackson BOE to announce layoff plans

The Jackson County Board of Education will announce the school system’s layoff plans on Wednesday morning.

During its annual retreat on Thursday and Friday, the board discussed the district’s financial woes amid dwindling state revenue.

The board held a 35-minute closed-door meeting on Friday afternoon to discuss personnel issues.

Superintendent Shannon Adams issued a statement after the meeting on the district’s layoff plan — or Reduction in Force (RIF).

“Over a period of months, I have been working to develop a Reduction in Force plan for the school system,” Adams wrote in his statement.

“I am not presenting any plan to the Board of Education at this time, because I feel it would be appropriate for me to first address those employees who would be affected by the proposal should the plan be adopted by the Board, rather than for those employees to be informed in some other way after the plan is presented,” he wrote. “I will be making those contacts on Monday and Tuesday of next week.”

The board will hold a called meeting on Wednesday, March 25, at 8 a.m. to announce the district’s layoff plan or accept resignations from those affected by the move.

Besides laying off employees, the school system also anticipates losing more than 30 certified and classified positions in the district through attrition next school year. By not hiring new employees to fill those vacant positions, the school system estimates a $1.8 million savings.

The school system also plans to furlough a few of its employees in the district for five days during the 2009-2010 school year for an estimated savings of $110,900.

The proposed 2009-2010 fiscal budget calls for a 2.95 percent drop from $90.6 million this year to $88 million next year.

Among some of the proposals to trim costs for the school system are eliminating the system-paid portion of employees’ dental insurance for a savings of $264,500 and restricting out-of-district travel for conferences and training for a savings of $252,000.

For more details, see the Wednesday, March 25 edition of The Jackson Herald.