Many companies in the state are making staff cuts because of their budget. The Smyrna School District hasn’t had to go to such lengths.
It is state law that all teachers have to know if they will have a job for the following school year by May 15.
Buddy Lloyd, Smyrna School District Assistant Superintendent, said the district hasn’t had to reduce the 554-person staff, even with the current state budget situation.
“We rehired all the teachers that had a contract,” he said. “No teachers lost jobs because of the budget at this point.”
Temporary contracts, tenure, retirements
Lloyd said there were some teachers who held temporary contracts who were not guaranteed jobs for the following year.
“There were four teachers in the elementary schools that were hired after October 1 on a temporary contract that I didn’t rehire in May,” he said. “Then, I redistribute returning staff and some do internal transfers, and anyone who wants to transfer moves.”
If no one volunteers to move, then the administrators re-assign a position or positions.
To earn tenure teachers need three successful years of teaching then get rehired again in May of their third year.
Lloyd said the number of retiring teachers also determines how many staff members need to be replaced.
“I’ve only had one teacher retire right now,” Lloyd said.
How do you decide how many teachers to hire?
A number of factors are considered before guaranteeing jobs for teachers without tenure.
“I look at students that are currently enrolled; I look at possible retentions and make the best estimate for enrollment in each school and match staff accordingly,” Lloyd said.
The state has guidelines for class sizes in each grade, generally about 22 students, which is another aspect to take into consideration.
“Last year in August, there were 60 new kindergarten students and three new kindergarten teachers had to be hired,” he said. “In August, North Elementary had to add a second grade class. We have to look at the big picture – the district and each school. I want to get the most appropriate class size.”
Lloyd said a lot of new students move into the district during the summer months.
“Many move in or out of the district during the summer,” Lloyd said. “We are going to continue to grow, the question is how much? There are going to be people moving in and I don’t know what grade they will be in.”
Lloyd said summer school is something else to look at because some students are going to move on to other grades while some will not. How many move on will help determine the number of students in that grade.
“After summer school is over we’re going to see how many people are retained to a grade level and I’ll check on a weekly basis,” Lloyd said.
School officials also have to estimate how many teachers they will need for the amount of children they will have by September 30. That’s the state’s cut-off date for determining how much funding each district will receive, based on enrollment.
Last year, the district’s official September 30 count was 4,657 students.
Smyrna School
District employees
• 295 teachers,
• 24 administrators,
• 23 specialists,
• 11 guidance counselors,
• 8 nurses,
• 2 software technologists,
• 30 secretaries,
• 49 custodians,
• 69 child nutrition employees,
• 42 paraprofessionals,
• 1 van driver.
SMYRNA, Del. —
