The West Central School Board members took action Thursday night to approve two Reductions in Force.
Superintendent Dan Zylstra says the RIFs were due, in part, to declining enrollment and an insufficient number of students in some classes.
“We had two teachers that were moved to half-time,” explained Zylstra. “One was voluntary and we still have some open positions so we might be able to work to avoid those RIFs completely, but we did have to approve them before the school year.”
He added that the school board is working hard on the 2022 budget.
“We’re working on making that based on projections. We have lost a number of students over the last few years, specifically during the COVID year. We had many students switch to virtual. That leaves us, you know, in a tighter financial position than we would like to be. We discussed being proactive with the budgeting and making sure that we can comply with new salary requirements set forth by the State.”
Public hearings on the budget should be scheduled in the next couple of months.
