SAINT CLAIR - Twelve professional staff members at the Saint Clair Area Elementary and Middle School will be furloughed effective August 31 as ordered by the school board.
Programs being suspended include the family consumer and science/technology program, library, art, foreign language and kindergarten through fifth-grade health program. Two professional staff were furloughed from the kindergarten program and the program will go from a full day to half day. Two professional staff will be furloughed in the special education program.
The board is planning to incorporate some of the core values of the programs suspended into classes that are offered next year where possible.
Though the library program will be suspended, the board is working out students' access to library books.
Three positions were also furloughed in second, fifth and eighth-grade professional staff and classes will be merged in each grade due to declining enrollment.
The furloughs will save the school board $1.276 million in their budget of $10,002,054 for the fiscal year 2014-15 and will balance their budget, but there will be no extra money for cushion.
The board identified these three grade levels as the three they could condense that would not adversely effect the students' education, Michael Holobetz, president of the Saint Clair school board, said. The average class size in these grades will grow to about 25-35 students per class.
"None of us on the board want to increase class size, but when we were trying to make decisions on cutting, we tried to have a measured approach on it and tried to be reasonable with our decisions," Holobetz said.
The school professional staff also accepted a pay freeze for 2014-15, which saved three positions.
In order to be fair and make cuts "across the board," Holobetz said, one custodial position will not be filled from an individual resigning as well as two para professional full-time positions from individuals who are retiring.
Two part-time positions have been created and interviews will be conducted for the dean of students and in information technology, Holobetz said.
"We haven't completed the staffing arrangements, our intent is to have some of our best teachers - all of our teachers are great - but some of our best that we feel can handle these grade levels the best take them," Holobetz said.
Many students came to previous school board meetings including Wednesday's meeting to fight for the classes they love.
"I do appreciate you guys standing up and fighting for a program that you believe in, the music program. I commend you in your courage and it did help," Holobetz said. "We will be preserving our music program and we will continue to offer gym for kindergarten through eighth grade."
Many faculty, parents and students were crying in the crowd after the final voting on furloughs. Some teachers stood when their programs were voted on.
There were more than 12 teachers in the crowd wearing a blue or red t-shirts that read, "I make a difference, I am dedicated, I am proud to be a Saint Clair teacher." Red shirts were worn by teachers who were protected from furloughs by seniority. Teachers in blue shirts were those who were not.
"We are proud to be Saint Clair teachers and we wanted to make sure it was known," Sandee Mickonis, fourth-grade teacher at the Saint Clair Area Elementary and Middle School, said.
Parents and grandparents are outraged by the decision of the school board to cut teachers and programs for their children.
"I came because I wanted to see what was going on with the school my grandchild will attend," Lynn Werez, 49, of Saint Clair, said. "I'm very upset as a teacher for these other teachers. It's sad to see teachers lose their jobs." Werez is a teacher at the St. Nicholas Ukrainian School in Minersville.
Students aren't taking the decision of the school board very well, either.
"I'm very sad that they cut Spanish, several of those programs mean a lot to me and the teachers were so nice to me," Lily McDonald, 11, of Saint Clair, said. McDonald is a sixth-grader at Saint Clair Area Elementary and Middle School.
Megan Murray-McDonald, mother of Lily McDonald, said her daughter has been very upset about losing Spanish classes.
"She is only 11 and sees how beneficial it is to knowing another language," she said.
"Me and my friend Paige were bawling our eyes out and there are a lot of people who are really angry," she said. McDonald and her friend Paige spoke on the podium while the floor was open for public comment.
"Kids are never going to get to experience all of the nice teachers we have ... I'll never get to experience all of those teachers," Lily McDonald's friend Paige, a student at Saint Clair Area Elementary and Middle School, said.
Parents are doing everything they can to get the programs back that mean so much to them.
"I just think we need to be a little more creative with what we're looking at," Megan Murray-McDonald said. "I'm working with a few parents and looking into different ideas. There is corporate funding, there are grants out there, just different ways to get some of these specials back in the school."
Murray-McDonald knows the school and town is going to feel the loss.
"That school has been such a good experience. It's a small town school, everybody knows everybody else, the teachers know when Lily isn't having a good day; you hate to see people who take care of your kids just be let go for something they couldn't help," she said.
Though programs have been suspended, there is no estimate for how long they will be.
"Although things will be different at Saint Clair Area School District, we will remain focused on preserving high academic achievement and growth," Holobetz said.