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8701 Pacific St. Omaha, NE 68114 Volume 60 Issue 7
FEATURE Learn more about the new principal Jay Opperman on page 8 April 8, 2016
“SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO?”
Faculty announce plans for upcoming year L I B BY S E L I N E
MANAGING EDITOR
Graphic by Nick Gross
March 15 was decision day for Westside High School faculty. It was the day they signed contracts for the next year and committed to teaching in the district again. While the majority of staff chose to stay, more than 10 staff members chose to not work at the high school. According to Sally Shepherd, Vice President of an organization of teachers called the Westside Education Association (WEA), the teachers have had a “rough” year. Changes such as the recent budget cuts and the announcement of the retirement of principal Maryanne Ricketts can be difficult for teachers to adjust to. Shepherd believes this may have contributed to teachers’ decision to leave. “I think [the past year] could have [contributed to [teachers’ decision to leave,]” Shepherd said. “When [a teacher] gets tired and just worn down [a teacher may think] something new will reinvigorate [them] as a teacher. It could’ve contributed to some teachers as to whether or not they apply for other jobs.” However, there is no central reason for why these teachers have decided to leave. Teachers will leave for other reasons including wanting to teach in the same district their kids go to school in or moving to a new neighborhood with their family. Although teachers may leave because of the salary, this is not because teachers are being paid less than other districts. The salary schedule the district follows cannot be compared to salary schedules of other local area schools. In District 66, people will first get paid according to their degree and the amount of time they have been teaching in general. Then, if a teacher chooses, they can take advantage of different opportunities such as earning a National Board Certified Teaching certificate and becoming a team leader to earn more pay. “Westside is all about rewarding teachers who want to take on leadership and do more because we have high expectations,” Head of Human Resources Department Enid Schonewise said. “If I’m a teacher who has been teaching for seven years, but I can’t add more days or take on additional responsibilities [the salary schedule] is not a super strong schedule for me. If I’m taking on coaching and leadership I can make a lot of money.” Every year, members of the WEA meet with Human Resources and they discuss and vote on a schedule. It is then taken to the board to be approved. This year, 85 percent of the WEA members that participated in the vote voted for the new salary schedule. At the board meeting on Monday, April 11, the board will approve or veto the new schedule. “If the teachers don’t like [the salary schedule] they vote it down and then we have to go back and renegotiate,” Schonewise said. “So it isn’t that the school board says ‘teachers this is what you get paid’ and then [the teachers say] ‘Ugh. I don’t like it. I’m going to go somewhere else.’ They’re apart of the process and we agree on it together.” The salary schedule at Westside for the 2016-2017 school year will not be affected by the budget cuts. Budget cuts will not directly affect the teaching environment and Human Resources Department claims that no teacher that had a continuing contract lost their job. Staff that are in charge of programs affected by budget cuts are going to be reassigned and not fired. For instance, the elementary Spanish program has been cut from the elementary schools, but the Spanish teachers will not be fired. They will instead be placed as a teacher in a different job within the district that needs a replacement. All Westside High School teachers leaving will be replaced unless the program they specialized in is going to be cut. Schonewise ensures that all teachers leaving will have great replacements. “We don’t just replace [teachers leaving] with brand new teachers; we go after the best teachers,” Schonewise said. “We have not said ‘Oh, you can’t bring in the best teacher.’ We will continue to hire the best teacher even if it costs a little bit more, [which is what] we always do here.”