PAINESVILLE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT - WERE BOARD AND ADMINISTRATION UNFAIR TO STUDENTS, PARENTS AND PARAPROFESSIONALS?

The News-Herald reported today that the "Painesville [City] School Board will cut 15 classified positions at a special meeting early this morning, according to Superintendent Michael Hanlon, who spent Tuesday notifying those who might be affected in person. The move will eliminate 12 paraprofessional positions, two monitor positions and one custodial position, Hanlon said. Resulting savings will depend on circumstances to come, he said. 'Overall in the classified bargaining unit we're talking about maybe an 8 percent reduction, somewhere in that range,' Hanlon said."

We question why Painesville City Schools are making this move 1 month into the new school year? Why instead weren't these decisions made last spring so the district could plan for and adjust to these moves over the summer break?

One possible answer is that the school district had not yet completed negotiating their contract with the OAPSE union by that time. While we don't know what precipitated this move, if the board and administration knew of these reductions in force at that time could this be construed as "bad faith" on part of the school district administration and board?

We are even more surprised given that Painesville City Schools 5 year forecast shows a $4.5 million dollar reserve going into this year.

Paraprofessionals, or teachers aides, assist classrooms teachers in all kinds of tasks. Most of the 12 paraprofessionals were probably involved with special needs children making this move devastating to the parents with children on individual educational plans (IEP's), which often require the services of an aide as part of their program.

The News-Herald also reported that "The district's contract with the Ohio Association of Public School Employees calls for the reduction process to take 30 days. 'We respect each of the individuals involved in this, and so wherever possible we want to provide that 30-day implementation window,' Hanlon said. The news surprised OAPSE Regional Director Lloyd Rains Tuesday afternoon. 'We are reviewing the options and having further discussion with the district on the rationale,' he said. The district successfully bargained with OAPSE in June, prior to approval of the new state budget, and with its Painesville City Teachers Association in September, after the announcement.'"

While Dr. Hanlon claims he respects each of these individuals and therefore was providing the 30-days, we suspect the OAPSE union contract requires the process to proceed this way. We believe if Dr. Hanlon truly respected these individuals he would have made this move months ago when these individuals had a chance to be hired by another district. Given these circumstances we understand VERY CLEARLY why OAPSE Regional Director Lloyd Rains was surprised.

Finally, the News Herald reported Hanlon stated ""Clearly those factors that came out as a result of the state budget changed some of the economic landscape," Hanlon said."We need to ensure we have the resources necessary to meet the obligations of those contracts. That, compounded with some of the changes in House Bill 1 in terms of the nature of our funding and other factors — we have a need to balance that budget over the next two years.""

Again we question Dr. Hanlon's motives. While it is easy to blame this on the state budget, he should have known what the budget was going to be in July. If it was a result of the state budget then why weren't these changes made before the beginning of the school year?

We have rated Painesville City Schools as the worst district in Lake County - these types of moves by the district only continue to reaffirm our belief in our rating!

As always you can contact us at carecommitteepac@yahoo.com.