School gives pink slips to support staff

Four classified staff members were cut from the Colfax school district after the board Monday voted to reduce hours of service by classified employees.

The board voted to notify two full-time teacher aides, one part-time teacher aide and one part-time kitchen assistant that their positions will be terminated at the end of the school year.

Two of the teacher aides were on year-to-year contracts and those contracts were not renewed for the 2011- 2012 school year.

In addition, the hours of one custodial worker were cut by two and a half hours a day.

Rhonda Pittman, president of the school’s classified staff organization, said the layoffs could be permanent, but she hopes some of the four employees laid off can be re-hired once final state budget figures emerge.

“I’m hoping when the final budget comes back we can get some of the jobs and hours back. That’s what we are hoping,” she said.

Pittman said the general sentiment around the school was one of “sadness” but the layoffs didn’t come as too much of a surprise.

“Nobody likes to hear about it, but we were all expecting some of this,” she said.

Pittman said it will take at least a week to process the new budget and see how the new figures relate to the district. Legislators announced they had concluded budget legislation Tuesday.

The cuts come in the wake of a round of teacher layoff notices which were issued before the May 15 deadline for certified employees.

Many school districts in eastern Washington have issued layoffs notices for both teachers and classified staff as the state education budget figures emerged.

“It’s part of our economy right now. We know it will turn around- we just hope it would do it faster than it has been,” said Superintendent Michael Morgan.

He said the reduction of staff would put a greater work load on teachers who will be without aides next year.

The cutback in classified hours totals 27.5 hours a day, or 137.5 a week.

Superintendents around Whitman County and officials from ESD 101 have speculated that when the final education budget from the state emerges in another few weeks, many of the staff tapped for a RIF could keep their jobs.