80 Buncombe County Teachers Lose Jobs Due to Budget Cuts

South Carolina school districts breathed a sigh of relief following the state Supreme Court ruling which forces Governor Sanford to take $ 700-million in stimulus money, while some teachers in North Carolina were reeling from the news that they were being laid off. News Channel 7 spoke with a teacher in Buncombe County who was caught off guard by the news.

Owen Middle School math teacher Holly Henderson says, "Everybody’s been very reassuring, and you kind of have that job security bubble as an educator of… they always need teachers."
That's why Henderson was surprised when she was one of 80 teachers in the Buncombe CountySchool District to receive this letter telling her contract would not be renewed. Henderson has been teaching for four years and just earned her master's degree. "They made it very clear in the letter it was not based on job performance," says Henderson, who was just three weeks away from being tenured. "I was hurt at first, and then I was looking in the eyes of my principal who clearly values me as an educator. I know it's not her. I know it's not my system. It's bigger than that,” according to Henderson. She says legislators are failing to see the potential fallout from cutting the education budget, "I think the state is not looking long term. It's a very short sighted fix."
She believes it will affect students’ education. "When they are saying -an increase in class size by two- that's an average. Logistically, that's doesn't make sense. There is going to be 8 more some class and five more in some class and no more in other classes," says Henderson. She says, "Knowing that increasing class size is not good for students... We've worked so hard to go the other direction, to have that just blow up in your face, you know, you're back at square one as an educator."

Henderson says she knows she will find something to pay the bills, but dreads the thought of leaving a profession about which she is passionate. "It’s going to start that cycle of the teacher shortage again," says Henderson; because teachers like Holly Henderson will have moved on to something else, leaving the students they love behind.

The letter she received tells Henderson that once the budget is finalized in July, the district hopes to re-employ or reassign teachers in her situation and asks her to stay in touch. However in the letter, Superintendent Cliff Dodson says if the budget in the North Carolina General Assembly passes the way it stands 110 classrooms will have to be eliminated in Buncombe County Schools.

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Meanwhile, here is what some Upstate school districts say about the State Supreme Court decision to forced Governor Mark Sanford to accept $700 million in stimulus funds:

Cherokee County School District, Dr. Bill James, Superintendent: "The $300 per student will be about $3 million in our district. Most probably that will offset any need to furlough employees. Certainly that is good news for our district and for the overall economy in our county."

Laurens 55, Dr. Ed Taylor, Superintendent: "We won't be bouncing checks. We lost 2/3rds of our fund balance this year, so the funds will be used to fill the void."

Spartanburg District 2, Rhonda Henderson, Spokesperson: "Our 2009-10 budget process was delayed due to the stimulus uncertainty. Now we can breathe a bit easier knowing that, for this coming year, the stimulus funds will help to meet our operational obligations without depleting resources or making personnel cuts. As a growing school district, cutting personnel is a last resort and a certain detriment to maintaining our educational and safety standards. The Board of Trustees will get a first look at the proposed budget next Tuesday evening."

Spartanburg District 5, Dr. Scott Turner, Superintendent: "District Five has been building its budget without including the stimulus funding. We have used over $600,000.00 from our reserve fund balance to complete this fiscal year. We had deferred many operational and capital expenditures and planned to use over a 1 million in fund balance to cover personnel cost for the 2009-2010 school year. Now that the state will receive the federal stimulus funds, this will mean an additional $2,048,315 per year for the next two years for our district. It will allow the district to cover our costs without using as much of our reserve funds and will also reduce the amount of local taxes that would have been raised to cover our operational costs. This is extremely good news for District Five. As we continue to see unprecedented growth in student enrollment, this will allow us to maintain appropriate class sizes and keep effective instructional programs in place to maximize student achievement."