School Board Approves Reduction-In-Force Plan

Updated 3:50 p.m. Added two videos of Superintendent Cliff Cole talking about the reduction-in-force plan, the impact of the district's budget on the school calendar and more. Cole also said that unless the district is notified of more impending state funding cuts or receives additional cuts, there should be no other teachers at risk of being impacted by the RIF plan.

A plan for a reduction in force and a resolution for a class-size waiver were among the items approved by the Paulding County School Board at its regular meeting Tuesday.

We live-blogged the meeting via Twitter (follow us @DallasPatch) but we also updated this page with background information and other details. We will have even more information later today. See the bolded copy for the tweets we made during the meeting and information we added to the tweets.

10:17 a.m. Cole says the district will continue to look at the district calendar for 2011-2012 and a recommendation on it will be coming as the budget picture becomes clearer. The 2011-2012 calendar is already set, but cost-saving measures could trim the school year by up to four days. The calendar's current start date is Aug. 1; Cole said it could be moved to Aug. 3 or 5.

That's it for the highlights of the meeting. We'll have more later today.

10:15 a.m. Tribunal report, personnel report receive unanimous approval.

10:07 a.m. RIF plan receives approval. Again, we've uploaded a copy of the plan to this article.

10:02 a.m.: Cole: 118.5 positions included in reduction-in-force plan. "These are positions—not all of these are people."

10:01 a.m. Class size waiver amendment approved 6-1, with Nick Chester opposing.

10 a.m. Superintendent Cliff Cole regarding class size amendment: When you look at gifted students, the majority of those students will move onto college, where they will be in classes in auditoriums anyway. The increase in the gifted class size limit will enable us to better utilize our teachers and funding.

The agenda item on the class size waiver stated that district officials wished to amend the waiver board members approved on March 8 to increase only the previously approved numbers in gifted education only. Under the waiver changes, the district will be allowed to have one to nine additional students in gifted classes in grades six through eight, and one to 11 additional students in high school gifted classes.

9:55 a.m. Board returns from closed session. No votes taken.

8:34 a.m. School board starts by moving executive session to front of the meeting.

Cole in an interview last month said the system could be in for some deep budget cuts even from the starting point of this year’s approximately $189 million budget that necessitated a school calendar of 176 student days—four less than the typical 180-day calendar—and 10 unpaid leave days for staff.

Should expected cuts come to fruition, Cole said officials would look to operate under a 176-school-day calendar similar to the current one, which also would include the 10 unpaid leave days felt by staff this year. System leaders also would be looking at reducing some positions through attrition with the aim of not impacting classrooms. ()

Echoing some of Cole's sentiments was Doug Eza, a consultant to Georgia school systems in the area of budget preparation. Eza, , said Paulding County Schools is suffering from the state's sinking commitment to funding equity, which will force a decision among furloughs, layoffs and a big millage increase.