Carrollton may face layoffs as well
CARROLLTON -- “I felt sick all day,” said Carrollton Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Craig Douglas after he first heard about the neighboring Saginaw Public Schools laying off 65 teachers, 6 administrators and more than 50 other support workers.
“I don’t know anybody in education that doesn’t have the same feeling,” he added. Carrollton and Saginaw are like a majority of state school districts standing to lose major dollars from Lansing amid the proposed $470 per-pupil reductions.
“Depending upon what tweak gets passed, (it’s) somewhere around $800,000 to $900,000 per pupil and on top of that nearly $300,000 in retirement increases being passed on to us,” he said assessing the situation.
“That’s over a million dollars. That’s huge.” Douglas said that could mean at least 5 or 6 layoffs, but stressed that was a preliminary guess and it all depends on the final budget adopted by the Carrollton Board of Education.
Douglas will be boarding a bus with teachers and students and head to Lansing on Wednesday to protest the school aid reductions.
On Monday, Saginaw Public Schools Superintendent Carlton Jenkins announced the district was in the process of issuing layoff notices to at least 127 staff members including 65 teachers and 6 administrators.
The district is looking at a projected $13.3 million deficit with a majority of that coming from state revenue cuts. Increase cost of healthcare and retirement payments are also contributing factors. Saginaw School Board members will be meeting Wednesday night to discuss the current layoffs and the possibility of more coming through.
