Superintendent: Cut high school faculties 10 percent, end elementary and middle school PE
Published: Wednesday, June 23, 2010, 5:13 PM Updated: Wednesday, June 23, 2010, 5:31 PM
Portland's elementary and middle schools would lose their entire physical education program and the high schools would lose 10 percent of their faculty under Superintendent Carole Smith's plan to deal with a $19 million cut in state funding for next school year.
Layoffs for some Portland Public Schools teachers and increased workloads for those who remain are inevitable, officials said.
Somber-faced school board members heard Smith's plan Wednesday afternoon and will hold a public hearing on it Tuesday evening.
“This is hard to listen to,” said board member David Wynde. “Every person we employ, there is a good reason they're here. This is really, really tough."
Every Oregon district is being asked to take a 9 percent cut in state funding for the coming school year.
In Oregon's largest, Smith recommends cutting the equivalent of 178 teachers – 66 from elementary and middle schools, primarily from physical education; 60 from high schools; 38 from special education; and 14 from English as a second language. She also proposes cutting 25 positions from the district's central office.
Smith said she is not proposing cutting days from the school year, as many districts are doing, because that would be a one-time fix. She believes state school funding will be tight for years to come.
Paring back teachers, while painful, will help the district become leaner for lean times ahead, she said.
She said teachers and other school employees who keep their jobs will have to shoulder a heavier load.
Elementary and middle school teachers without training in P.E. will be called on to help