Teachers to keep jobs in Jordan School District

WEST JORDAN — Only a month ago, hundreds of teachers thought they'd be losing their jobs due to a $30 million budget shortfall in the Jordan School District. On Wednesday, members of the Jordan Board of Education said they don't plan to lay off any teachers.

Instead, they plan to cut programs and non-classroom personnel.

A bill passed in the recent legislative session allows struggling school districts to use building funds for classroom needs, creating a flexibility that many districts could use during the ongoing budget crunch. The new lease provides what board president Peggy Jo Kennett says is a "one-time fix."

"We're not going to take millions and millions of dollars out of that fund or we'll be in the same situation two years from now," she said.

The board directed the district superintendent to use about $12.5 million from the capital fund to balance the 2010-11 school year budget. There will be no tax increases, no increases in class sizes and no changes in the high school block schedule.

Kennett said the district still needs to address a budget shortfall of about $17.5 million, which will be met by reducing programs and cutting administrative and non-classroom personnel costs.

"We will be evaluating every position that is not directly associated with a classroom," she said, adding that those include specialists, custodians and maintenance personnel, as well as district office workers and administrators.

"No teachers will be losing their jobs."

Using money slated for buildings to keep teachers in the classroom will mean a delay in planned building projects, like playground upgrades and parking lot fixes.

Kennett said the outcome, made possible with support from the Legislature, is "good news" and "is a lot better situation than the situation we were facing a month ago."

Prior to this agreement, reached during a regularly scheduled school board meeting Tuesday night, Jordan officials had planned to increase each class by four students, which would result in laying off more than 250 teachers.

But while legislative action may have bailed out Jordan School District in the short term, the quickly growing district still needs to raise $250 million for new schools in the next five years.