School Reduction In Force Policy Considered

The first day of school in Baldwin County was tainted with news of extra-curricular and elective cuts and now, the possibility of massive, county-wide layoffs.
Chorus and dance electives at Fairhope and Daphne High Schools have been cut because non-tenured teachers were terminated to help off-set a 56 million dollar budget shortfall.

News 5 has learned the Baldwin County Board of Education is now considering implementing a "reduction in force" policy to help balance the budget. If approved, veteran, tenured teachers could lose their jobs.

"We have to, by law, submit a balanced budget and that's easier said than done and quite frankly cannot be done without additional cuts to employees and services," says school spokesman Terry Wilhite. "Today, we're offering our bare basics education and just trying to get the lights on and the doors open and students educated in a basic level."

School officials have scrapped the proposed one-cent sales tax increase because of lack of support from county commissioners. The school board has called a special board meeting Tuesday night in Loxley to discuss the financial crisis and to talk about the reduction in force policy. The meeting will start at 5pm.