Teachers called back to work

Budget bump returns 22 teachers to St. Helens roster

By Erica Ryberg

The South County Spotlight, Jul 29, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Superintendent Patricia Adams

Staff / The South County Spotlight

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A few more familiar faces will grace the school halls since the St. Helens School District recalled formerly laid-off staff back to work after last month’s state approval of a higher-than-anticipated education budget.

“We had to lay off star staff,” St. Helens School Superinten-dent Patricia Adams said. “And we’re delighted to not have to lose them to another school district.”

Over the last several weeks the district mailed out letters inviting five teachers back and increasing hours for six other teachers, including moving several up to full time. The recall totaled 7.13 full-time hours for licensed staff and 4.7 full-time hours for classified staff.

One notable on the recall list is the increase of athletic director Ken Bailey’s hours from half to three-quarters time.

“That’s a huge position for even a full-time position,” Adams said. “At [half time], I knew that we were cutting it really close with these [athletic] programs.”

The 2009-10 proposed budget had called for slashing 22 full-time teaching, 16 full-time classified and 2.5 full-time administrative positions.

Some of the recalls, like a funding increase for two part-time positions in Columbia City, brought the school district into compliance with contract demands, while others ensured that class sizes in grades K-5 would be similar to what they’ve been in recent years.

The school district had created its budget plan anticipating a funding level of $5.4 billion, a 12 percent decrease from the previous budget. The actual funding came in at $5.8 billion with a $200 million reserve.

Adams said she’s mulling whether to hire another school nurse in place of two part-time medical assistants in order to tackle health needs among the student population.

Adams said serious consideration occurred before making the decision to recall the employees, noting that the district left a cushion in the budget to accommodate funding changes during the school year without having to furlough the recalled employees or closing school early.

“It’s a tough call because you’re dealing with people’s lives and services to kids,” she said.