VALPARAISO | Layoff notices will be sent to 12 Porter County special education teachers.
The move is a precautionary one, and the head of the county's special education cooperative said she hopes each teacher receiving notice can be retained.
Diane Massa, executive director of Porter County Education Services, said the move was necessitated as the agency assesses its budget, enrollment and student service obligations.
By contract with the special education teachers union, notice of a layoff must be delivered by May 1.
Any layoffs would affect the least senior teachers.
The Porter County Education Services board, composed of the superintendents of the county's seven school corporations, asked Massa to assess enrollment numbers and determine if they warranted teacher cuts, Massa said. The board would not cut teachers if it resulted in any drop in quality of services to students, she said.
Massa said she expected a determination on staffing by the end of this school year.
Danielle Zecevich, president of the Special Education Teachers Association, could not be reached for comment.
Special education teachers are employed by Porter County Education Services and assigned to schools around the county based on student numbers. If layoffs occur, staff members could be reassigned according to student needs, Massa said. She said she could not recall any layoffs at the cooperative in the last 15 years.
Porter County Education Services employs 220 teachers and serves 4,100 special education students around the county.
The agency is funded through a combination of state and federal funding and contributions from member districts based on special education student population.