Friday, May 23, 1997
Hiring freeze to thaw soon
By LESLIE STRADER / Abilene Reporter-news
Abilene's hiring freeze will begin to melt a little starting
June 2, which could be good news to prospective district employees
who, since April, have been left out in the cold.
Superintendent Charles Hundley announced Thursday that effective
June 2, the current hiring freeze "will be thawed - but not
altogether canceled."
Hundley began the freeze in mid-April due to uncertainty about
the future ofschool funding. The Texas Legislature has spent the
last four months trying to design a plan to restructure the school
finance system to reduce property taxes.
June 2 is the scheduled end of the current legislative session.
"I am looking to thaw the freeze at that time so I will
know for certain what the Legislature is doing in terms of school
funding for the next two years," Hundley said.
In a memo sent to the board of trustees, Hundley said he has
instructed Deputy Superintendent Bob Glover and Lynn Mendenhall,
who oversees personnel for AISD, to proceed with "essential
hiring only."
Essential hiring, Mendenhall said, means all positions vacated
will be reviewed in terms of how necessary they are to fill, a
process the district goes through every year anyway.
"We'll be looking at enrollment changes and that sort
of thing," Mendenhall said. "If there's enough change
where it doesn't justify hiring a teacher, we'll look at that.
Everything has to be justified by numbers."
For example, state law requires kindergarten through fourth-grade
classrooms maintain a 22:1 pupil/teacher ratio. Mendenhall believes
because the overall district enrollment decreased last year, it's
possible he could fulfill the state requirement without filling
every empty elementary slot.
Hundley's memo also stated "the total number of classroom
teachers in middle school and high school can be reduced slightly
without creating unfavorable pupil/teacher ratios in any department
or area."
Mendenhall noted part of the reason AISD could hire fewer teachers
is because there have been fewer resignations this year compared
to years past.
About 50 employees so far have told the district they will
not return next year. Traditionally, between now and the start
of school, AISD fills 125 to 150 spots.
At last report, about 600 people had applied for AISD positions
next year.
"This is not a reduction in our force, it's just as people
resign we're looking at that position very closely," he said.
"It's been slower this year than it has been in the past,
but we'll probably get more (resignations) as the summer progresses."
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Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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