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Mount Edgecumbe staffing reviewed after pandemic hires; board and commissioner say cuts aim to 'rightsize' positions
Summary
Board and department officials told legislators that Mount Edgecumbe High School staffing added during the pandemic is being reduced to approach pre-pandemic levels, with approved positions falling from 32 toward about 24–26 depending on program needs.
The joint education committees pressed the State Board and the Department of Education on staffing at Mount Edgecumbe High School during the March 10 hearing after committee members said they had been told 15 of 32 certified positions were to be cut.
Board Chair James Fields and Commissioner Dina Bishop said the school employed added staff during the COVID-19 pandemic to support separation of classes and additional services. Bishop said the department and superintendent had reviewed staffing and recommended reducing approved positions from 32 toward a target range of about 24–26 positions, depending on the master schedule and the school’s needs. She said many pandemic-era additions were not certificated educator positions but supported dormitory or other non-instructional functions.
Fields described discussions with staff and said the department is also reviewing contracts that had increased substantially over recent years. Bishop said some contracts associated with pandemic staffing had increased pay by roughly 40% and that department leaders are examining those agreements as part of “rightsizing” staffing levels. Officials said the school had approximately 412 students at the time of review and that earlier (2012) staffing levels were lower (22 educators for about 430 students in a past snapshot cited by officials).
Officials said they would continue to work with the superintendent and advisory board to refine staffing to meet student needs and the school’s master schedule and to provide clearer communication about which positions are certificated educators versus other state positions supporting the boarding-school operation.
