Highland teachers, staff feel the pain of budget cuts

HIGHLAND | Longtime Highland School Board member Larry Vassar just shook his head as he approved one cut after another.

He spoke for the group when he said not one board member wanted to be there eliminating positions, but that's exactly what happened Tuesday night as they began the process of eliminating $1.8 million from the district's operating budget.

"I'm listening to all of the people who are being laid off and I'm wondering who is going to be here to run our district," Vassar said.

Unfortunately, the School Town of Highland likely faces more cuts in the future, he noted.

Twelve teachers already have received letters informing them their services will not be needed next fall.

More teachers will be laid off if the teachers union doesn't agree to some concessions that could save the district money, Superintendent Michael Boskovich said.

The board on Tuesday approved four teacher retirements and eliminated a variety of aide positions including instructional aides, English as a second language aides, clerks, librarians and secretaries. Seven custodians were eliminated, including four of whom will work their last day Friday.

The board also reduced the number of days a middle school secretary will work from 260 to 220 days.

Boskovich said two administrators will be eliminated for the 2011-12 school year, and other administrators, including Boskovich, will take a 5 percent pay cut effective in March.

A packed crowd attending the meeting, and many nodded their heads as they considered the cuts.

Parent Kim Schroeder said she understands the board has to make the cuts and it's not the board or the administration's fault.

"It's the government's fault, and we're going to remember that when the election comes around, but I have to say I think you dropped the ball by eliminating clinical aides. They may not be nurses but they help the children," she said.

Andrea Marcus said she understand the purpose of the cuts, and some of them even make sense to her. But, she asked, "How will cutting all of these aides help kids?"

Marcus said some students work at different levels, and she suggested that parents begin coming in to act as teacher aides to assist students.

Boskovich said he liked the idea and expected to reach out to parents and community members to come in and volunteer at the schools.

"Since I've been superintendent, I added 12 aides and nine teachers, but all of them are gone now," he said. "I added them because I know our kids need the help, but we don't have the money. We're going to ask the community for help. That's just the way it is. There's no smoke screen."

Based on the nearly $300 million in state-mandated school cuts across the state, 4,500 teachers could be laid off by this fall, said Nate Schnellenberger, president of the Indiana State Teachers Association, which represents nearly 50,000 employees statewide.

"No one has talked about the economic impact of laying off 4,500 people across the state. These people will not have the money to spend in their local community, and that's not how you get out of a recession," he said earlier this week.