With a grim "yes" from each Austin Public School Board member and no discussion, 29 positions in the school district were terminated or placed on "unrequested leave of absence" effective June 10.

Thursday, April 01, 1999

With a grim "yes" from each Austin Public School Board member and no discussion, 29 positions in the school district were terminated or placed on "unrequested leave of absence" effective June 10.

Nine long-term substitute teachers and 14 probationary (three year or less) teachers will receive formal notice today that their jobs will be terminated at the end of the school year. Five tenured teachers will get notice that they are being placed on unrequested leave of absence with no pay and no benefits. An administrator will hear her position is being reduced from full- to part-time.

Chances are good, in a month or two, that many of those same people will be told their jobs will be reinstated and asked to work again the next year. It all depends on the Minnesota Legislature.

"Legally we have to notify people now," Superintendent Dr. J. Douglas Myers said. "But our key point this year and every year is what the Legislature chooses to allocate."

Myers said the K-12 funding is usually the last thing the Legislature votes on before the session ends in May, but the district has to notify tenured teachers by April 1 because they are entitled to a hearing and 60 days notice.

How many does he think won’t actually end up leaving the district?

"At this point, your guess is as good as mine," he said. "We won’t know until the bill is passed."

The number was up slightly from the past two years, when 24 people were on the list, but Myers said decision-making had nothing to do with the mid-year budget cuts. Because of the mid-year cuts, the district will start next year without a deficit and is making plans to insure the budget stays out of the red.