Woodland Hills proposed budget could cut more than 60 staff

Staff in the Woodland Hills School District are pushing back against proposed cuts to personnel across the district.

At least 60 positions, including 15 teaching positions from kindergarten to sixth grade, 10 secondary teaching positions, five special education positions and two guidance counselor positions could be eliminated, according to the district’s 2019-20 budget proposal, which was accepted for review by the school board in May.

“I don’t care what kind of ‘realignment’ you’re doing,” said Matt Edgell of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, which supports the Woodland Hills teachers union. “It’s impossible to offer the same level of programming to students, and ensure them the same safety and the same support from counselors, from school nurses, from the special education staff, when you have so many fewer personnel to take it on.”

Superintendent James Harris said the proposed furloughs are related to declining enrollment throughout the district — about 14 percent, or 550 students over four years — and a reconfiguration of grade levels, which includes moving about 400 middle school students from the high school to another building.

“Through consolidation, through better scheduling, through just better processes, we’re able to scale back the number of employees that we need,” Harris said.

For example, the district is scaling back some courses and only offering them if enough students sign up, Harris said. They’re also correcting for over staffing, particularly at the high school level, that went unaddressed in recent years.

Kindergarten classes will continue to be capped at 15 students, and other elementary school class sizes will remain at around 20 to 22 students, Harris said.

“I think, once we get past the shock of this reboot, I think they’re going to find that this is a much better, efficient school district with a lot of programming in it,” he said.

The district enrolled 3,310 students during the 2018-19 school year, down from 3,529 students the previous year, according to enrollment data from the state Department of Education.

During the 2017-18 school year, 1,197 students living in the district attended charter or cyber charter schools, according to state enrollment data.

The union also is worried about safety, and whether students will have adequate emotional support and supervision if there are fewer adults in classrooms and hallways.

Of particular concern are cuts to counselor, nursing and special education staff, Edgell said.

“These are areas where the research is showing we should have increases, not decreases in staffing,” he said.

The proposed budget includes revenues of $97.02 million and expenditures of $101.78 million, using $3.36 million of the 2018-19 fund balance.

It includes a millage increase of 0.7605 mils, increasing the millage rate from 25.35 to 26.1105 mills — an increase of about $76 per year for a property assessed at $100,000.

That increase is expected to generate $1.39 million in revenue for the district.

The proposal must be passed by the school board by June 30. It is available at the district website for public review.

The next school board meeting is June 12 at 7 p.m. in the district administration building, 531 Jones Ave. in North Braddock.