ASHTABULA TOWNSHIP � Fallout from the Buckeye Local Schools Board of Education�s decision last month to close Pierpont Elementary School continued into its March meeting Tuesday evening.
The board voted to reduce four full-time elementary regular positions for the 2008-09 school year, plus a half-time principal position. Part-time elementary art, music and physical education positions, plus extracurricular and special-fee assignments, were eliminated as well.
Operational positions also were cut, including the head custodian, swing custodian, secretary, cook, cashier, library aide and student monitors.
The closing is expected to save the district about $600,000 annually, much
of it in staffing costs and benefits.
While the board eliminated the positions Tuesday, it could be two more months before names are attached to the decision, said Superintendent Nancy Williams. Teachers have until April to make a decision on a retirement incentive package that requires nine teachers to take advantage of the offer before it would be effective. If the target is not met, then the staffing landscape will change, and the reduction-in-force measure will have a different impact.
Williams said the actual operational employees cut from the payroll as a result of the action, probably won�t be acted upon until the May meeting, either.
Several Pierpont residents addressed the board during the marathon meeting and were critical of the board�s decision to close the school and conduct the vote without listing it as an agenda item.
�I�m very upset at the lack of class and integrity that took place when you voted on that,� said Ruthella Coder, a Pierpont resident.
Arletta Lower, also of Pierpont, criticized the board members for not listening to students and parents who could have offered creative solutions to the district�s economic challenges.
The district�s action even drew commentary from a New Springfield resident. Class of 1996 Edgewood graduate Jennifer Housel Ridzon had a long list of questions for the board, including a $4,000 expenditure for office furniture. Ridzon said she plans to move back to the area and live in Pierpont and is angry about the community school closing.
Others accused the board of encouraging a fight between Pierpont and North Kingsville, and said the board has wanted to close Pierpont for decades.
Board members thanked the residents for their concern and pointed them to the large volume of previously published material supporting the decision, as well the research done by the citizens finance committee. That group recommended closing the school and rejected the idea of putting forth a levy to keep it open.
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