With the prospect of students opting out of public school this fall or attending via less staff-intensive remote learning models during the pandemic, a growing number of superintendents are warning their staffs to expect another round of layoffs in the coming weeks.
Superintendents already state legislatures to untether K-12 revenue from how many students walk through the door, the traditional way of allocating funds. They worried that a significant number of parents would choose to home-school or send their children to private school, and that would mean mean less money from the state.
Those efforts to retool the connection between attendance and funding failed in several states. Fiscal conservatives argued that their states, looking at the prospect of a deep recession, can鈥檛 afford to give money to districts for students they aren鈥檛 educating.
Superintendents鈥� predictions are now coming true.
In Florida, for example, Santa Rosa County鈥檚 school board last week and reassign 80 more after 1,200 fewer students than last year enrolled in school.
Meanwhile, administrators are warning that extended remote learning will result in teachers and classified employees, such as janitors, school bus drivers, and cafeteria workers, being laid off. Virtual classrooms can accommodate more students, superintendents are pointing out, and therefore don鈥檛 require as many teachers.
While administrators last spring could afford to reassign many of those classified staff after schools shut down, many districts can no longer afford to do so.
Bristol, Va., Superintendent Keith Perrigan addressed to his staff that if the district decides to go all-remote, it won鈥檛 be able to afford to keep all of its hourly workers on staff as it did last spring when school first shut down.
鈥淭his is definitely not a path we want to follow, but in the interest of transparency we want to share that it is a possibility,鈥� Perrigan wrote.
Layoffs after the school year starts are especially devastating to districts鈥� academic outcomes, research has shown, because they can be demoralizing to a school鈥檚 culture and interrupt students鈥� learning experience.
California, one of the few states that did alter its attendance law to financially protect districts that are losing students, faces a legal challenge from a group of parents charter schools that are growing this year will ultimately be shortchanged.
Education Week is tracking district layoffs. If you know of a school district that鈥檚 recently laid off educators, .
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