Cape sees 100 leave school district as plan to whittle staff, raise wages takes hold

An effort to cut costs while elevating teacher pay is drawing to a close for the Cape Girardeau School District.

One hundred employees have left the district since July 1 — 76 of them since the process began moving forward in January — with the largest concentration, 20, at the high school, according to district information.

“One thing you have to remember, too, is the high school is our largest building,” with about 100 staff members, superintendent Jim Welker said.

Welker said 13 of the proposed departures will be considered at the school board’s regularly scheduled meeting Monday, although that’s mostly a formality at this point.

Also Monday, the board will consider a proposed new salary schedule for teachers that includes a $750 annual boost in base pay, plus additional compensation for years of service and educational attainment.

“I look forward to next year as we begin implementing these changes,” Welker said. “I appreciate the years of service people have given, whether they’ve retired or resigned.”

The district’s cost-saving process began during the winter, when Welker reviewed its comprehensive school-improvement plan and concluded base salaries for teachers should be more competitive with surrounding districts.

Because property taxes and state funding weren’t available to help close the gap, the next-best solution was to pare down personnel costs districtwide.

To help achieve that, Welker proposed reducing the number of planning periods from two to one at the junior high and high school, resulting in a seven-period day that would require fewer teachers.

That measure will go into effect during the 2016-2017 school year, despite teachers’ initial concerns fewer advanced classes and electives would be available to students.

District officials have said some routine courses will be available in the summer so college-bound students can take more advanced-placement and dual-credit courses during the school year.

Also part of Welker’s effort to cut costs without instituting layoffs were retirement and early retirement incentives for certified and noncertified district employees who qualified.

Certified employees are those who hold professional certifications, such as teachers, counselors and administrators.

Noncertified employees include administrative assistants, maintenance workers and those in food-service positions.

Of the 21 certified district employees who opted for the incentives, more than 14 are teachers who will not be replaced.

That amounts to an annual savings of about $725,000 for the district — roughly $50,000 in salary and benefits per person, Welker said.

“Some of the positions we had to go ahead and refill,” he said.

Since the beginning of the fiscal year July 1, 100 employees have opted to leave the district — only two more than the previous year, when 98 people left.

“It’s pretty close, considering we did a retirement incentive,” Welker said. “This year we’re trending a little higher, but not significantly.”

The number of employees who left the district in 2013-2014 was 81. Eighty-seven left in 2012-2013.

As for the high school, Welker said the high concentration of resignations there could be for any number of reasons, and turnover for noncertified, or classified, employees always tends to be higher throughout the district because people find better-paying jobs or move from part-time to full-time positions.

“Certainly, we did make some changes at the high school, and some people may be leaving because they’re upset with the changes ... but I don’t have any data on that, in terms of that’s why they left,” he said.

Of the 20 high-school employees who decided to leave, three certified employees retired, and 12 resigned. One noncertified employee retired, while five others resigned.

In the Jackson School District, which is a slightly larger district than Cape Girardeau, the number of people who resigned or retired this year was 36.

The previous year, 40 district employees resigned or retired, and 44 left during the 2013-2014 fiscal year, according to numbers provided to The Southeast Missourian.

ljones@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

301 Clark Ave., Cape Girardeau, Mo.

614 E. Adams St., Jackson, Mo.

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Number of employees who have left Cape Girardeau schools since January (76):

• Alma Schrader Elementary: 4
• Blanchard Elementary: 5
• Clippard Elementary: 8
• Franklin Elementary: 6
• Jefferson Elementary: 6
• Central Middle School: 6
• Central Junior High: 5
• Central High School: 20
• Central Academy: 3
• Career and Technology Center: 6
• Central Administrative Office: 7

Source: Cape Girardeau School District