Arkansas Blog: "Blank" contracts in Conway?

The latest cost-cutting move in the financially strapped Conway School District has sparked a protest from the Arkansas Education Association, which says the district has essentially asked 136 teachers and administrators to sign blank contracts for the 2008-09 school year and waive their right to appeal any changes to the school board.

All the details on the jump.

The district has already cut a number of classroom and administrative positions in an effort to shore up a dwindling bank balance and stay out of fiscal distress.

The 136 employees — all in the district that work longer than the standard 195-day contract for classroom teachers — were asked earlier this week to sign one of two documents: Either accepting a contract that “represents a substantial change in the responsibilities, assignments, and/or contracted days,” plus a decrease in salary, and waiving their rights under the Teacher Fair Dismissal Act, or acknowledging that their existing contracts would not be renewed for next year, that new contracts would be reduced by five days, and they could appeal the change to the school board.

It’s the open-ended language, not the five-day cut, that has AEA official Karen Carter protesting.

“Not only have they waived their five days, they’ve agreed to whatever with salary, involuntary transfers,” and other changes, Carter said. “In essence they signed a blank contract that they have never seen and I don’t think they realize that.”

School Superintendent Greg Murry said he has no plans to make substantial changes — anything beyond what he’d be allowed to do anyway under the employees’ current contract.

“I’m only using the language that our lawyer suggested we needed to in this particular situation,” he said. “I have absolutely no intention of reassigning these folks in a significant manner.” 132 employees have agreed to the new contract, and the other four haven’t signed either document yet, he said.

Murry is trying to cut $4 million from the district’s budget, which has whittled reserve funds down from $20 million two years ago to an estimated $2.5 million at the end of this school year. Cutting the length of extended contracts by five days would save almost half a million dollars.

Comments

And this is supposed to be one of the "premier" school districts in the state? The one in the suburubs of LR?
HA!
Any with such a huge shortfall, why are they not on the fiscal distress list by the state? Is someone getting special treatment? I mean, if this were one of the 3 Pulaski Co. school districts, there would be front page headlines and a huge uproar. What gives?

If it wasn't for Max, we'd have been left in the lurch

Posted by: CBM | February 29, 2008 03:34 PM

Is it Ark property taxes that are not sufficient to pay for education? Are their money hogs and bottomless pits in our education system. It seems to me that rapid growing areas are too often under funded for education in Arkansas. Is it the funding formula?
Anyone have the answer?

Posted by: eLwood | February 29, 2008 04:45 PM

I have an answer, eLwood: Put every penny of the severance tax money into the public schools.

Posted by: John A Arkansawyer | February 29, 2008 07:23 PM

The Conway schools are so bad that my daughter is home-schooling my granddaughter. They pulled her out of kindergarten, vowing never to send her back to public school until things improved.
At first, when they told me of their decision, I tried to talk them out of it, but at least I don't have to worry about her being abused. or worse, shot on the playground my some gun-toting madman.

Posted by: BlueRidge | February 29, 2008 08:01 PM

"by" not my. Need my glasses more and more these days.

Posted by: BlueRidge | February 29, 2008 08:04 PM

Arkansas Blog

"Blank" contracts in Conway?

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