Normandy NEA members file suit against district
for unlawful reduction in force
Normandy NEA and Missouri NEA filed a lawsuit today against
the Normandy School District after district administrators
decided to lay off 37 teachers. Six probationary teachers
signed the petition, asking the judge to prohibit the district
from tomorrow’s massive layoff.
The lawsuit’s premise is that this sudden and aggressive
action is in violation of the reduction in force statute,
which requires layoffs to be a necessary consequence of a
district’s financial condition. The district’s
administrators just hired 38 new teachers in September and
never suggested financial distress that would lead to RIF
at school board meetings, including the January meeting where
the board approved its new budget.
“Although the district may claim a money crunch, the
administration’s and board of education’s handling
of this issue is embarrassing,” says Missouri NEA President
Chris Guinther, a teacher on leave from the Francis Howell
School District. “Instead of anticipating the problems
and giving educators proper notice, administrators have put
the burden of their own blunders on the backs of employees
and children. This aggressive action is not only bad for families,
but it’s bad for the children who are losing their teachers
three months before the end of the school year. Before disrupting
the learning process for hundreds of students, it seems that
administrators would have spent more time exploring other
options. The timing of this action couldn’t be worse.”
The 35,000-member MNEA represents teachers, education
support professionals, college faculty, retired teachers and
students studying to be teachers in school districts and on
college campuses throughout the state. It is the Missouri
affiliate of the 3.2 million-member NEA.
For further information:
Jacquie
Shipma
573-808-5871
February 26, 2009
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