By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
Two teachers in the Yorkville School District have received preliminary layoff notices – and students have rallied behind at least one of the teachers.
The district is being forced, due to declining enrollment, to remove a section at both fourth and fifth grades, according to Yorkville District Administrator Dave Alexander.
“It’s really foreign for Yorkville,” Alexander said of the layoffs. “It’s unfortunate.”
But while the fourth and fifth grades are losing the section, the layoffs – at least in one case – are coming from a different grade level. John Johnsen, a social studies teacher at the junior high level, is one of the two issued a preliminary notice.
Alexander explained that numerous criteria worked into the layoff situation, including teacher certifications to shift grades as well as licensures.
“What I’m going to say is neither of the teachers deserve the consequence of losing their job,” said Alexander, adding that the district lawyer has advised him not to release the two names at this time. “This is a layoff, and it’s driven by an enrollment issue.”
Johnsen’s layoff notice has hit the Internet, however, as students and parents have taken to both Twitter and YouTube to try and save his job.
Johnsen could not be reached for comment Tuesday night, and the identity of the second teacher had not been made public.
“I can’t do that,” Alexander said about releasing the names. “It’s a private personnel matter.”
“We’re trying to maintain the employees’ privacy,” he added.
Alexander explained that several consecutive years of declining enrollment, as well as lower than normal open enrollment numbers, led to the elimination of the fourth- and fifth-grade sections.
The two teachers have a combined 12 years, though Alexander said they were not the least tenured at the school.
“Length of service was not necessarily the paramount in that decision,” Alexander said, adding that the ability to teach at different grade levels, employee evaluations, extra duties, extracurricular duties, student performance on MAP testing and the ability to backfill any other positions all played a part.
“I have to sort, of the entire staff, who deserves to be cut,” he said.
Yorkville currently employs 36 teachers, including the two who have received preliminary layoff notices.
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As a parent of four students, I am appalled by the decision made by Mr. Alexander and the school board. Mr. Johnson is one of the best teachers this district could have. We ask that this decision be reconsidered. For a small school with 36 teachers, we do not need an administrator, a principal and a vice principal. Let’s start at the top and work our way down!
I couldn’t agree more with Lori
Where are the school board minutes published? As a public entity they should be readily available. Also, it seems Yorkville has a low number of school choice students in the UGHS feeder schools. Might it be the “choice” is not to allow outsiders in, even though each student brings about $7000 in state funding with them? It seems to me we were sold the idea that the school was growing and needed the expansion voted for. Now the funds were made available, facilities built and now declining enrollment? Something seems wrong
Expansion is something all school districts want and Enrollment Increasing is always the reason to do that. However, if the enrollment goes down, as it usually the case, they just blame the enrollment not the error in past projections of a potential increase. Wow these small feeder schools know how to spend money.