Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Natchitoches Parish schools announce proposed reduction in force after loss of federal grant
Loading...
Summary
Superintendent Eloy told the school board the district must consider a reduction in force after losing a $14.6 million federal grant; administrators outlined a window for the RIF and evaluation-based tie-breakers and said about 25 positions could be affected.
Superintendent Eloy told the Natchitoches Parish School Board on April 14 that the district is planning a reduction in force after the loss of federal funding.
“We have, the loss of, our $14,600,000, federal grant,” Eloy said, explaining the grant’s unexpected end and the district’s fiscal constraints. The administration asked the board for approval to implement a RIF between April 21 and July 1 and said the district expects to target roughly 25 positions districtwide, with master teachers most likely to be affected.
Eloy said the RIF procedures follow state statute and add district-level tiebreakers to make decisions more objective. “Master teachers receive a teacher evaluation for their tie breaker before we go to years of service,” he said, and the district added a cluster evaluation as an additional tiebreaker for those positions.
Administrators emphasized steps to reduce harm to staff, including reassigning displaced employees to other openings where possible and using attrition where feasible. Eloy said the district will provide month-to-month payroll comparisons and an exact employee count at the next meeting so the board and public can see projected savings and the RIF’s impact.
Board members pressed for clarity on evaluation consistency and who compiles scores. Eloy described a process in which principals complete evaluations, an executive master teacher compiles cluster evaluations for master-teacher tiebreakers, and HR ranks redacted scores in a spreadsheet to determine placements by objective criteria.
No final vote was recorded on April 14. Administrators said the board would receive additional detail and a formal recommendation at a future meeting before any reductions become final.
