TRUMBULE — The Trumbull School District will not renew the contracts of five non-waiting teachers, two long-term replacements and a social worker.
Superintendent Martin Simmel informed the board of education at its Tuesday meeting about the proposed job cuts, which he said were needed to cover the 2023-24 education budget approved by the school board in February. More cuts may come after the city council approves the town’s final budget, Semel said.
“I want to make it clear that none of these non-renewals are for performance reasons, just budgetary reasons,” Semel told board members before the vote to approve the job cuts plan.
The School Board’s 2023-24 budget called for an increase of 4.98 percent over the current year’s budget. First Selectman Vicki Tesoro then slashed the education budget to an increase of 3.3 percent – figures approved by the Finance Council and referred to City Council for approval and which are expected in May.
“We don’t have our final number yet from the city,” Semel said, adding that the school district could suggest additional cuts in the future.
By Tuesday’s vote, the eight employees will leave the district at the end of the current school year. Unproven teachers include a fourth-grade teacher at Daniels Farm Elementary School and Jane Ryan School, along with a third-grade teacher at Frenchtown Elementary and Middlebrook School, according to Joseph Sheila, the school district’s human resources officer. Other precarious positions, he said, include a fifth-grade teacher at Jane Ryan School and a social worker at Frenchtown Elementary.
Long term substitute teachers include one at Frenchtown Elementary School and one at Trumbull High School. Long-term substitute teachers are usually assigned to classrooms and work every day.
All but one of the cutbacks on the task force on Tuesday had about a year of experience, Sheila said in an email. Semel said the school district has funded literacy counselors and math specialists using federal pandemic relief funds, which officials say will not be available by the next school year.
“We had a lot of students who lost a great deal of learning because of the pandemic. We brought in instructional coaches who could help the students, but we knew we couldn’t keep all of these professionals around forever,” Semmel said.
These professionals, who often help students who struggle during class, have worked in their professions for years and have a “longer tenure,” Semel said. Three of these professionals have been budgeted to replace teachers whom the school board voted to cut on Tuesday, Sheila, the human resources department official, said.
“The pandemic has caused a significant loss of learning for students across the country and Trumbull was no different,” Semel said. “The federal grant money (ARP-ESSER) that Trumbull Public Schools received has been used to reduce and eliminate this learning loss by providing additional literacy and math instructors to our schools.”
The district has always understood that this federal money would dwindle, Semel said, so officials devised a plan that curtailed that support over a three-year period.
“Our literacy specialists and math instructors are fantastic and I would like to keep them at their current level,” said Semel. “However, doing so would create an additional tax burden for members of our community during a difficult inflationary period. On a positive note, even with these cuts, we would still have at least one maths coach and at least two literacy coaches in every elementary school we have.”
Assistant Superintendent Susan Iwanicki added that registry changes were also factored into the decision. Despite the districtwide enrollment increase, she said, officials expect to shrink three elementary school classes, or “divisions,” in the next school year.
“We had 142 classes in 2024-23, but we will have an expected 139 classes in 2023-24, but we won’t know until you have all the kindergarten numbers,” Iwaniki said. “Last year, we expected less than we expected in the fall. We got more babies because we had more crossovers than we originally expected.”
Under Connecticut law, superintendents are required to notify non-tenure teachers by May 1 if the school district plans to terminate their contracts by the end of the school year. On Tuesday, at least one employee who would lose her job was present as school board members agreed to cut jobs. Some officials offered condolences to the employee, who declined to comment, after the vote.
“If we don’t keep good teachers now, even if they are not proven, what are we going to do in two or three years when there are no good teachers?” Board Member Lisa Nuland said during the meeting.
Another board member, Jackie Norsell, replied, “If we could answer that question, we’d be millionaires.” “They’re young, they’re fresh and they bring a lot of excitement to the school.”
Norcell added that principals had informed staff of their job losses about Tuesday’s meeting.
“Tomorrow you will give them the official address,” said Norsell.