Limestone County coach David Wilson had to sell his Atlanta home last year in a brutal housing market, and his wife, an Athens native, left a good teaching job in Cobb County, Ga., when Limestone County Schools offered him a teaching and head football coaching job at Elkmont last year.
He and his wife were thrilled to swap the glare of big stadiums for the hometown life in Athens, so he gladly accepted the job, he said.
Now, the two of them are without jobs.
Like all of the other first-year teachers in Limestone County, Wilson was pink-slipped the day before school ended this year. He was told the layoff was due to a reduction in force. Like hundreds of other school systems statewide, after three years of recession and state education budget cuts, about the only thing Limestone schools had left to cut were employees. The system determined it had to cut 30 teacher units to make ends meet in the coming school year. First-year teachers would have to be the first to go. The result was the loss of 70 positions, including 44 teachers, two counselors and 24 support staff.
He and his wife were thrilled to swap the glare of big stadiums for the hometown life in Athens, so he gladly accepted the job, he said.
Now, the two of them are without jobs. Like all of the other first-year teachers in Limestone County, Wilson was pink-slipped the day before school ended this year. He was told the layoff was due to a reduction in force. Like hundreds of other school systems statewide, after three years of recession and state education budget cuts, about the only thing Limestone schools had left to cut were employees. The system determined it had to cut 30 teacher units to make ends meet in the coming school year. First-year teachers would have to be the first to go. The result was the loss of 70 positions, including 44 teachers, two counselors and 24 support staff.
In the past few years, when Limestone schools cut first-year teachers, it ended up rehiring them before the next school year began. This year that did not happen, which has caused some confusion.
“I had been told by teachers and people in the community this is a normal thing and you will be hired back very soon,” Wilson said.
Then he was told he had only a 5 percent chance of being rehired. He is one of many fired first-year teachers who will not be rehired. There are two reasons Limestone will not rehire Wilson and many other first-year teachers who were fired this year.
First, unlike previous years, Limestone school officials knew how much money they would receive from the state before the end of this school year. Typically, state lawmakers fail to approve a state budget by the end of the school year, which leaves school officials twisting in the wind. They cut first-year employees because they don’t yet know how much money the system will receive for the upcoming school year. Then, like clockwork, lawmakers agree on a state budget after school lets out and Limestone officials ask the school board to rehire most of the first-year teachers who were fired.
Second, three years of state budget cuts have forced Limestone County schools to cut nearly every other possible expense within the system to stay in the black, leaving only personnel on the table this year.
So, many of the first-year teachers who were fired this year, would not be returning.
However, no Limestone County school is going to go a year without a head football coach.
Instead of rehiring Wilson at Elkmont, school officials advertised for a teacher and coach.
His replacement — Sean Holt — was approved by the school board Thursday night.
Officials say the change had nothing to do with the coaching skills of Wilson, whose team was a coin-flip away from the playoffs. It had nothing to do with his abilities as a physical education teacher.
“It was budget oriented,” Assistant Superintendent Mike Owens said after the meeting. Holt, a tenured social studies teacher at Elkmont, will take over as head football coach for Wilson. By increasing the number of students in each P.E. class, other teachers will handle Wilson’s P.E. duties.
“A lot of first-year teachers will not be hired back,” Owens said. “These are the facts of life right now,” he added, referring to the school systems need to cut $4 to $5 million due to recession-triggered state budget cuts. Owens said when the system hired Wilson and other teachers they did not anticipate the cuts they would have to make this coming school year. He said schools would likely face another year of budget cuts in 2012-13.
As for Wilson, he said he attended a previous board meeting, hoping to get a chance to comment, but he apparently missed the public comment portion. He told The News Courier this is what he would have said:
“I hope that I am speaking for every 1st year teacher in Limestone County that received a letter of notification of non-renewal of contract on the day before school was out for the summer. The process of this notification is wrong. I know that you will say that it is law or policy or something that you have no control over, but it is still wrong. How can Limestone County attract the smartest and brightest young people that want to teach when they are paid so little and have no job security or at least ample notice so they can find other teaching opportunities? This does not make sense to me, especially since the governor said back in March there would be a 3 percent pro-ration. Why not let these people at least know in time to make other arrangements? I heard the comment that if you tell them early then they won't do their job effectively if they have another lined up. Well, don’t pay them if they are not doing their job until it is finished.
“From my own personal experience with this, I can remember being asked the question during my interview process here, ‘Coach, you have so much experience, how can we be sure that you will stay with us for a long time?’ My answer, this is to be my last job, my wife is a native of Athens and I want to bring her home after 25 years of traveling around and coaching, she loves Athens and I want to end my career in a one school town where the people turn out every Friday night to cheer for their team and where I can have an affect on young peoples lives in a very positive, faith-based way. I have experienced the 100,000 seat stadiums and I don't need that anymore. So, I accepted the job as head coach, struggled through selling a house in Atlanta during this awful economy, moved all of our belongings into storage here in Athens, my wife resigned her great job effective the end of the school year in Cobb County, Ga., so now we both find ourselves without jobs and without a home.
Does that sound right to any of you on the school board? I am sure many of the other first-year teachers are also in somewhat the same situation.”
“I had been told by teachers and people in the community this is a normal thing and you will be hired back very soon,” Wilson said.
Then he was told he had only a 5 percent chance of being rehired. He is one of many fired first-year teachers who will not be rehired. There are two reasons Limestone will not rehire Wilson and many other first-year teachers who were fired this year.
First, unlike previous years, Limestone school officials knew how much money they would receive from the state before the end of this school year. Typically, state lawmakers fail to approve a state budget by the end of the school year, which leaves school officials twisting in the wind. They cut first-year employees because they don’t yet know how much money the system will receive for the upcoming school year. Then, like clockwork, lawmakers agree on a state budget after school lets out and Limestone officials ask the school board to rehire most of the first-year teachers who were fired.
Second, three years of state budget cuts have forced Limestone County schools to cut nearly every other possible expense within the system to stay in the black, leaving only personnel on the table this year.
So, many of the first-year teachers who were fired this year, would not be returning.
However, no Limestone County school is going to go a year without a head football coach.
Instead of rehiring Wilson at Elkmont, school officials advertised for a teacher and coach.
His replacement — Sean Holt — was approved by the school board Thursday night.
Officials say the change had nothing to do with the coaching skills of Wilson, whose team was a coin-flip away from the playoffs. It had nothing to do with his abilities as a physical education teacher.
“It was budget oriented,” Assistant Superintendent Mike Owens said after the meeting. Holt, a tenured social studies teacher at Elkmont, will take over as head football coach for Wilson. By increasing the number of students in each P.E. class, other teachers will handle Wilson’s P.E. duties.
“A lot of first-year teachers will not be hired back,” Owens said. “These are the facts of life right now,” he added, referring to the school systems need to cut $4 to $5 million due to recession-triggered state budget cuts. Owens said when the system hired Wilson and other teachers they did not anticipate the cuts they would have to make this coming school year. He said schools would likely face another year of budget cuts in 2012-13.
As for Wilson, he said he attended a previous board meeting, hoping to get a chance to comment, but he apparently missed the public comment portion. He told The News Courier this is what he would have said:
“I hope that I am speaking for every 1st year teacher in Limestone County that received a letter of notification of non-renewal of contract on the day before school was out for the summer. The process of this notification is wrong. I know that you will say that it is law or policy or something that you have no control over, but it is still wrong. How can Limestone County attract the smartest and brightest young people that want to teach when they are paid so little and have no job security or at least ample notice so they can find other teaching opportunities? This does not make sense to me, especially since the governor said back in March there would be a 3 percent pro-ration. Why not let these people at least know in time to make other arrangements? I heard the comment that if you tell them early then they won't do their job effectively if they have another lined up. Well, don’t pay them if they are not doing their job until it is finished.
“From my own personal experience with this, I can remember being asked the question during my interview process here, ‘Coach, you have so much experience, how can we be sure that you will stay with us for a long time?’ My answer, this is to be my last job, my wife is a native of Athens and I want to bring her home after 25 years of traveling around and coaching, she loves Athens and I want to end my career in a one school town where the people turn out every Friday night to cheer for their team and where I can have an affect on young peoples lives in a very positive, faith-based way. I have experienced the 100,000 seat stadiums and I don't need that anymore. So, I accepted the job as head coach, struggled through selling a house in Atlanta during this awful economy, moved all of our belongings into storage here in Athens, my wife resigned her great job effective the end of the school year in Cobb County, Ga., so now we both find ourselves without jobs and without a home.
Does that sound right to any of you on the school board? I am sure many of the other first-year teachers are also in somewhat the same situation.”
Source: Athens News Courier
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