Is The Trimble School Distirict finished

[Purple&Yellow Pride]

The local money will start rolling in right after Trimble beats Wahama.......NOT!

[NYBuckeye96]

Here is an update from today's Athens Messenger. Only 10 staff members will lose their jobs because several Trimble teachers have retired and those positions will not be filled for next year. I'm assuming there are seven retirements in the district to account for the original number of 17 positions that were to be eliminated. So the number of positions eliminated remains the same, but the number who were laid off was only 10 because of the retirements. Trimble is now getting ready to eliminate support staff positions.

http://www.athensmessenger.com/news/local/article_881c73e8-7166-11df-ad67-001cc4c002e0.html

Some Trimble staff dodge bullet

Posted: Sunday, June 6, 2010 8:33 am
By DANALINE BRYANT Messenger staff writer

GLOUSTER — Trimble Local School officials have sent letters to the first group of employees who will not be rehired for the next school. But the number of letters sent turned out to be less than initially approved by the Trimble School Board.

Interim Supt. John Costanzo confirmed that the letters have been sent, but said only 10 letters were mailed. The names of those receiving letters cannot be released until the June board meeting.

Last month, the school board took the first step in eliminating 17 jobs — 13 teachers, a principal and three teaching aides — for the 2010-11 school year, approving a recommendation by Costanzo for a “reduction in force.” The motion the board approved, however, also said the number of jobs eliminated could be increased or reduced. That motion simply notified Trimble’s two employee unions of the planned action. According to contractual obligations, the board must give 60 days’ notice to the district’s teachers and support staff unions.

In May, Costanzo said officials were trying to notify affected employees sooner than required so they could begin applying for jobs. He said with districts everywhere facing cutbacks, job searches may be more difficult.

On Thursday, Costanzo said the process is continuing.

“The letters were sent out, but they were less in number than what was said in the motion,” Costanzo said.

He said the number was reduced because officials are not replacing a number of people who are retiring.

Officials now are looking at reductions in support staff.

“We are still working with representatives of classified staff (non-certified support staff) to determine what classified staff will receive (reduction-in-force notifications). We’re anticipating there will be positions eliminated,” Costanzo said.

“We are in the process of finalizing that work. We hope to know the number at the next meeting.”

The school district is eliminating staff and taking other cost-cutting measures to get its finances under control. At the May school board meeting, district Treasurer Cindy Rhonemus presented an updated five-year forecast for the district. Rhonemus’ projections showed that the district will be nearly $50,000 in debt by fiscal year 2011; nearly $900,000 in debt by fiscal year 2012; more than $2 million in debt the following year; and nearly $4 million in debt by 2014. If the district does not address its finances, it faces an eventual state takeover.

Officials are looking at other ways to save money and other plans for the next school year.

“We’re looking for every possible way to save money, and there are a lot of variables being looked at. We are putting together the best educational plan we can under the circumstances. It’s going well. A lot of hard work is being done by groups and individuals. We are looking at our challenges and ways to overcome them,” he said.

The next Trimble School Board meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. June 15 in the high school library.

[Orange and Brown]

The local money will start rolling in right after Trimble beats Wahama.......NOT!

REALLY?? Jackass!

[MTSWNGRVSG]

What expenditures are growing so much that the debit will go from $50,00 to $4 million in 3 years? Just wondering where the cost over runs are.

I wish the Trimble District the best and hope they are able to work it out.

[Green Beagle]

The Trimble School District will be fine. All they have to do is every time something negative happens say "Tomcat Pride" and then its over. I hear that they have said 5 million dollars worth of Tomcat Prides so now they are a million in the black. Glad the administrators were just bluffing about the shortfall of funds.

[NYBuckeye96]

http://www.athensmessenger.com/news/local/article_fbe805a8-850c-11df-8dc5-001cc4c002e0.html

Trimble teaching force cut by nine

Posted: Thursday, July 1, 2010 8:31 am

By DANALINE BRYANT Messenger staff writer | 0 comments

GLOUSTER — “I thank you for the time I’ve spent teaching the children of Trimble,” said third-grade teacher Sharon Short after her contract with Trimble Local School District was suspended Tuesday night.

Short was one of about 30 Trimble employees present in the high school library, where the school board meeting was held. When the motion to suspend her contract — one of nine positions eliminated Tuesday — was put forward and passed, Short stood up and addressed the board with that one sentence and then sat down. Principal Mary Mitchell, Short’s direct supervisor, was sitting across the room from her. Hearing her staff member’s comment, Mitchell smiled and blew Short a kiss.

Tuesday night, with a sadness that was apparent in their voices, board members voted unanimously to suspend a total of nine teaching positions for the 2010-2011 school year.

Votes were taken individually for each position proposed for suspension. The teachers whose jobs were eliminated are: Joseph Fragle, middle school art; Mary Beth Pomento, high school consumer science; Diana Limo, middle school language arts; Jody Holbert, sixth/seventh grade; Ryan Lunsford, second grade; Sharon Short, third grade; Tyler Thomas; high school physical education; Renee Burch, middle school special education; and Sarah Luthy, middle school mathematics.

Before the action was taken, Interim Supt. John Costanzo said he was recommending the action “with deep regret.” He has said repeatedly in recent weeks that he wanted to make it clear that the action didn’t reflect on the jobs the teachers had done. After the vote was taken, Costanzo said he was directing “the administrative team to try to bring as many of those teachers back as quickly as possible.”

At the beginning of the meeting, during the audience participation portion, Trimble Local Teachers Association President Chris Snoddy spoke to the board.

“The Trimble Local Teachers Association is extremely saddened by the loss of the teachers slated to be laid off tonight. Their excellent teaching skills must be acknowledged, as well as their caring and dedication to Trimble’s students. Today is heart-wrenching for our members,” she said. “We are also disappointed that the majority of cost-saving measures seem to only currently be made in the area of certified staff, with some cuts being made in the classified staff, as well. We are frustrated that no cuts in the administration and secretarial areas seem to be planned. It is our hope that the board will view the teachers as Trimble’s greatest asset, not its easiest chopping block.”

When the reduction in force was announced, board members said the positions lost would include one of the three principals employed by the district. However, that position was not included in the suspensions approved Tuesday night. A special board meeting is scheduled for tonight to consider the hiring of a superintendent. Middle School Principal Kim Jones is one of five candidates.

After the meeting was adjourned, Board President Rob Miller commented on the meeting’s actions.

“This is the toughest school board meeting I’ve had yet,” he said. “I regret we had to make those decisions, but our hands are tied. With no more money coming in and declining enrollment, it doesn’t leave us with many choices.”

In May, in response to deep concerns over funding for the coming school year, the board voted to eliminate 14 certified positions, but the number of people losing jobs was reduced to nine by not replacing teachers who retired at the end of the current school year and by funds obtained through a grant.

The May vote didn’t actually terminate anyone; it only notified the district’s employee unions of the planned action. According to contractual obligations, the board must give 60 days’ notice to the district’s teachers and support staff unions.

The action taken Tuesday night was the actual suspension of contracts for the nine Trimble teachers.

According to contract obligations, the people with the least amount of seniority were the ones who lost their jobs. Union officials met for many hours in recent weeks to determine who those individuals were. Those with seniority whose positions were being terminated could move to the position held by someone with less seniority, but only if that person had state certification to teach in that position.

Trimble employees learned in March that the district was in severe financial distress. Shortly after being named interim superintendent, Costanzo asked Tom Gumpf, Region 16 coordinator for the Ohio Department of Education’s Division of Finance, to conduct an analysis of the district’s staffing and financial situation. Gumpf did that and then reported to board members in an open session that the district was headed for fiscal emergency status if it did not make substantial cuts in spending.

Gumpf used Trimble’s five-year forecast for his analysis and found that, while the school district has surplus funds as required by law, those funds won’t last long. The five-year plan shows that at the end of the fiscal year the district will have $24,500 left over from this year’s budget of more than $8 million.

[NYBuckeye96]

http://www.athensmessenger.com/news/local/article_95974de0-850c-11df-9d4b-001cc4c002e0.html

Trimble board enacts without OK from union

Posted: Thursday, July 1, 2010 8:29 am

By DANALINE BRYANT Messenger staff writer

GLOUSTER — After nearly a year of unsuccessful negotiations, the Trimble School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to declare an ultimate impasse and implement a contract with the Trimble Local Teachers Association.

Garry Hunter, attorney for the board, explained details of the contract implementation in open session.

“This is a tough time to be a board member,” he said. “The district is facing extreme financial distress and has had a lot of difficult decisions to make. … The board is taking action to declare an ultimate impasse. The last contract ended on Aug. 25, 2009. The negotiation process has been in place for at least 11 months. Two Unfair Labor Practices grievances have been filed during the 2009-2010 school year, even though the contract had expired. The board members said they feel they have to move forward to get some finality on financial issues.”

Hunter then reported on changes in the new contract that goes into effect today and runs through Aug. 24, 2011.

When the old contract expired, teachers worked under the conditions of the 2008-2009 contract, and they continued to work under that contract during the last school year. Under the old contract certain raises were due; however, since a new contract wasn’t in effect, the board didn’t give those raises. The union filed an Unfair Labor Practice grievance on the issue. The old contract called for income averages to be automatically increased based on four other Athens County school districts.

Hunter said by phone on Wednesday that while the union felt those raises should have been given, the board’s position was that, because there was no new contract, the raises couldn’t be given. The contract implemented Tuesday includes retroactive payments of the raise amounts for the entire 2009-2010 school year to all union employees. The contract also includes a freeze on salaries for the 2010-2011 school year. Hunter said school officials needed that freeze to face the mounting financial crisis.

Another issue filed as a grievance was the matter of paternity leave. On Wednesday, Hunter said a hearing was held and the issue was ordered into mediation, and it is still in that process. Language was changed in the new contract that eliminated an old requirement that required board policy language to be consistent with union contracts.

Hunter said there’s a state law that supersedes labor contracts, and board members felt it would be better to eliminate that section rather than deal with conflicts like the current one that developed over maternity/paternity leave.

“The board felt they wanted to eliminate it so they wouldn’t have to fight over language,” Hunter said. “They felt it was better to use their time and energy in running the district than dealing with language issues.”

Hunter said the board agreed to several requests the union had made during negotiations. They include an increase in life insurance coverage from $10,000 to $20,000, a request to add grandparents and siblings to bereavement leave, to increase mileage reimbursement in certain instances, to allow members to convert unused personal leave to sick leave, to increase tuition reimbursement from $3,000 to $6,000 annually and some other considerations.

Tuesday night, after the board’s action to implement a contract, union officials commented.

“We do view this as a violation of Ohio Revised Code 4117, which requires the board to bargain with us,” said Cecelia Weldon, Ohio Education Association labor relations consultant. “They were bargaining in bad faith. We were negotiating up to a week ago.”

“There’s not much to say. Our side was bargaining in good faith, and they weren’t,” said Chris Snoddy, president of the Trimble Local Teachers Association.

When asked if the union would consider a strike, Snoddy said no.

“There won’t be a strike. A strike is not going to solve a thing,” she said. “We will call a general membership meeting and we’ll call in the OEA lawyers to work on legal ramifications.”

On Wednesday, Hunter said he disagreed that there had been ongoing negotiations.

“We don’t believe they were negotiating, and that’s part of the ongoing saga of the negotiations,” he said. “Our position is that once the board declared an impasse, we’re free to implement a new contract.”

He said the board had tried to be fair in implementing the new contract.

“We were trying to be pretty fair,” Hunter said. “They buy their insurance from a consortium of school districts to keep costs down. We were advocating a new plan that changes the coverage slightly. That’s been the issue. They originally declined it and we’ve been discussing it ever since.”

He said the changes in the insurance policy saved the district about $100,000 a year, and those were funds the district needs during its financial crisis.

The premium is going to go down for those who don’t use the policy frequently, Hunter said. Employees who do use their insurance policies frequently can “buy up” and pay the difference between the new and old plans and maintain the policy they had in the previous contract, he said.

Hunter didn’t know the exact costs of the buy-ups and referred questions to district treasurer Cindy Rhonemus. Attempts to contact her were unsuccessful by press time.

Hunter said the board felt it had no choice but to declare an ultimate impasse.

“It’s pretty clear that that’s where we are at. We’ve been negotiating just short of a year,” he said. “I’ve never seen a negotiation go on this long. Normally, one party will strike or implement a contract. We have to call the issue. They want to talk forever, but the district has to get some financial clarity. They are free to pursue whatever avenues they think are available to them. We’re proceeding on the premise we have a new contract, and we’re gong to follow it until we are told by a higher power otherwise.”

He said he tried to explain the board’s position that it needed “financial clarity.”

“The board has made every effort to put as many things in the contract that were agreed to or could help them out,” Hunter said. “The salary increases for 2009-2010 cost about $100,000. It was something that moved us forward for the Unfair Labor Practices grievance for back wages that could have gone on for months and months. The teachers who (lost jobs) now will get the benefit of that. It’s retroactive for 2009-2010. We went back and paid them for last year and then froze wages. They’ll get that extra money to help out, and it will help in unemployment. We tried to do the right thing. We didn’t thumb our noses at them. Basically, we gave them everything they wanted to implement. But the salary freeze and insurance — those are the things we had been saying for months that the board had to have to keep the district solvent. I feel bad for the teachers who lost jobs and feel they deserve a pat on the back, but I also feel bad for the board. These were not easy decisions to make in front of a roomful of teachers. I feel they deserve a pat on the back, too.”

[dazed&confused]

It's a shame but I graduated from Miller in 1976. I just don't see how these rural school districts make it in the long haul. There are no businesses (taxes) to pay the freight. Consolidation is coming whether you like it or not. Long distance learning via broadband will help some but you can't keep these little school districts viable for long. Trimble to Nelsonville, Corning to Crooksville and the rest of Miller to New Lex. Mark my words ten years from now.

[Orange and Brown]

It's a shame but I graduated from Miller in 1976. I just don't see how these rural school districts make it in the long haul. There are no businesses (taxes) to pay the freight. Consolidation is coming whether you like it or not. Long distance learning via broadband will help some but you can't keep these little school districts viable for long. Trimble to Nelsonville, Corning to Crooksville and the rest of Miller to New Lex. Mark my words ten years from now.

Miller gets a ton of property taxes now days!
A lot of people from Columbus come down and build houses just so they can get away from the city. You would be very surprised to know how much they bring in on Taxes.

Besides that, 10 Yeasrs ago people were saying the same thing and it still hasn't happened. Trimble Local schools has a tough way to go and some day they will have to connsolidate. FEMA owns most of the district, But the fine folks in Trimble Township will fight it as long as they can and do whatever it takes to keep Trimble Local Schools open.

[dazed&confused]

It's a shame but I graduated from Miller in 1976. I just don't see how these rural school districts make it in the long haul. There are no businesses (taxes) to pay the freight. Consolidation is coming whether you like it or not. Long distance learning via broadband will help some but you can't keep these little school districts viable for long. Trimble to Nelsonville, Corning to Crooksville and the rest of Miller to New Lex. Mark my words ten years from now.

Miller gets a ton of property taxes now days!
A lot of people from Columbus come down and build houses just so they can get away from the city. You would be very surprised to know how much they bring in on Taxes.

Besides that, 10 Yeasrs ago people were saying the same thing and it still hasn't happened. Trimble Local schools has a tough way to go and some day they will have to connsolidate. FEMA owns most of the district, But the fine folks in Trimble Township will fight it as long as they can and do whatever it takes to keep Trimble Local Schools open.

Nothing against them. I'm sure they will fight but time marches on. Tick...tick...tick

[moonshine]

I hope the fat lady stops singing!