MICHIGAN CITY — Nearly 50 teachers and other certified staff at Michigan City Area Schools have received notices they may not be returning next year — the most notices school district officials could remember being issued due to budget cuts.
“It’s been a tough couple of days,” said Phyllis Stark, president of the Michigan City Education Association. Stark and Interim Superintendent Carla Iacona personally delivered each notice to employees Thursday. “We’re all hurting. It impacts all of us, the kids, the community, when such a huge blow is dealt to our schools.”
There are usually between 10 to 15 Reduction in Force notices issued every year, Stark said, but the possibility of an $8.2 million shortfall in La Porte County property tax revenue for the schools forced MCAS officials to plan for possible school closures or program reductions. The number of notices sent was about half of what was previously expected by school board members.
“These cuts went all the way up to teachers with 15 years of experience,” Stark said. “The decisions were based on seniority and what they’re licensed to teach. It’s been like one big giant puzzle trying to figure it out.”
Several budget cutting measures have been proposed by administrators and school board members, the most serious of which would close Neimann and Edgewood elementary schools, and moving Eastport Early Learning Center programs into the elementary schools. Reductions have been proposed in art, music and physical education classes.
The district will also not replace 12 teachers and other certified staff members who are retiring, bringing the total number of affected positions to 61, Iacona said in a news release. These 61 positions represent 13 percent of MCAS’ current certified teaching staff, including teachers, counselors, social workers, curriculum coaches, media specialists, special educators and nurses. The cuts would save the school district at minimum more than $1.5 million.
“These are the people who teach the children in our classrooms and provide crucial services that support them in their learning,” Iacona said. “Clearly, this is not what is best for our children.”
More than 25 of the district’s 402 teachers were affected. No other breakdown of how many of each type of employee received notices was made available.
“These notices are preliminary. We remain hopeful the tax situation will be resolved, so we can retain most of our staff,” Stark said. “Without a resolution, we’ll have to increase class sizes and cut sections.”
These are not the only personnel cutbacks that will likely occur, Iacona said. Administrators, instructional assistants, paraprofessionals, secretaries, food service professionals, bus drivers, technology specialists and custodial and maintenance personnel will all face cutbacks later this spring.
MCAS, along with Michigan City and Long Beach, brought a lawsuit in Indiana Tax Court against La Porte County Auditor Craig Hinchman and the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance in hopes of recovering property tax revenue the entities budgeted for and already spent. They are challenging Hinchman’s decision to certify 2005-pay-2006 property values instead of 2006-pay-2007 values, which would mean the loss of millions of property tax dollars for that year that were already spent under their budgets.
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