Most teachers' jobs safe in La Crosse

La Crosse Tribune, Apr 15, 2002 by Merecer, Anastasia

The La Crosse School District will be able to retain most every teacher for the 2002-03 school year, in part because of state and federal grants to reduce the number of students in elementary school classes.

Doug Happel, associate superintendent of human resources, said the 2002-03 personnel budget he will present at tonight's La Crosse School Board meeting is "very, very similar" to the one used this year.

"Next year will be the tightest personnel budget we've every had," Happel said. "If we did not follow through with SAGE (the state class size reduction program), there would be a reduction in teachers."

The district still could have "a few" layoffs when final enrollment figures and classroom assignments are made, he said.

Happel said 34.5 of 160 elementary teaching positions will be funded through state and federal class size reduction funding next year. Every K-3 classroom will have one teacher per 15 students during reading, language arts and math.

Additional staff time proposed includes:

* Part-time health assistant positions in the middle and high schools will be increased to full-time to complete implementation of a 1996-1997 Student Health Care Plan. Happel said this will allow every building to have a full-time health assistant, a position that's needed to deal with injuries and distribute medications. It will be funded through Medicaid funds the district receives annually.

* Part-time social worker positions in Central and Logan High Schools will be increased to full-time. The district needs fulltime social workers at that level, Happel said, and the increases will be funded through the federal Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act.

* A full-time teacher for the learning disabled will be added, with the hours split between an elementary and middle school. Happel said administrators were told not to create new positions, but Steve Ross, supervisor of students services, thought the addition was needed enough to reduce other areas in his budget. The equivalent of almost five teacher assistant positions will be eliminated next year, most related to the additional teaching position.

Happel said next year's personnel budget will be about $65 million, or 87 percent of the district budget.

"What you are seeing is our attempts to be as flexible as we can," Happel said. "We could not have afforded (a learning disabled teacher) through revenue caps."