Nettle Creek board approves personnel report, moves ahead with rightsizing that cancels two teacher contracts

The Nettle Creek School Corporation board voted to approve a personnel report that implements a rightsizing plan the administration says will reduce education- and operations-fund spending.

Mrs. Shaffer, who presented the plan, told trustees she would "recommend tonight the cancellation of 2 teaching contracts" and outlined staffing reductions including six instructional assistant positions and one technology assistant resignation that she said amount to $143,523 in savings. She said professional development spending will be cut by $28,000 and $19,000 of those expenditures moved to grant funding ("overall savings there for $47,000") and that the combined education-fund savings from the measures totaled about $612,044 (the transcript reads "612,000 and 44"). She also projected elementary class sizes of 19 to 23 students for the coming year.

On operations, Mrs. Shaffer said the district will stop paying student maintenance workers and instead use its work-based learning program to provide hands-on experience and high-school credit, a change she estimated would save $10,000. She listed additional operations cuts including reduced appropriations for vehicle and maintenance services ($10,200), discontinuing transportation to vocational school for 2026-27 (stated savings $33,231), and reducing custodial staffing by one full-time and three part-time positions (stated savings $99,763). She said the operations fund goal was $250,000 and that about $57,000 in additional reductions would still be needed.

Mrs. Shaffer said preliminary decisions affecting staff had been communicated individually and noted custodial contracts end on 06/30/2026 and will not be renewed. She described the choices as difficult and said they were made with the district's long-term health as the priority.

A motion to approve the personnel report was made and seconded; the chair called the vote and recorded the tally as "6 0," after members answered 'Aye.' The motion passed and the personnel report — including the two teacher-contract cancellations (employee numbers given as 1396 and 5098) and the recommended hires for summer and noncertified positions — was approved.

Board members asked no further procedural questions and no members of the public spoke during the public-comment period before the vote. The board set its next meeting for June 10 in the LGI Room at 6:30 p.m. and adjourned.