Up to 40 teachers and 30 staff, that's how many people the Lansing Board of Education might have to send layoff notices to, but that doesn't mean these people will be let go.
"We'd rather let them know that the possibility of a layoff is happening early, so that they can make those types of plans that are needed," Board of Education President Peter Spadafore said.
The Lansing School District doesn't know how many people will retire or find other jobs, which makes it possible to hand out fewer pink slips. Lansing Superintendent Yvonne Caamal Canul says they don't even know how much money they're working with. "This is a really unpredictable world that we live in with budgets," Caamal Canul said. "We're never really quite sure how much we're going to get from state aid."
Voters just approved a $120 million bond for the district, but the school board does not get to use that money however it wants. "That money is for construction, that money will be used for the environment, the buildings in the district, not for operations," Spadafore said.
Lately, enrollment has fallen in the district. Spadafore says that's happening in urban school districts around the country. He hopes the Lansing Pathway Promise bond will change that. "I think parents and families are really looking at the Lansing School District as their viable choice to send their students for the long term, so I think enrollment will begin to stabilize," Spadafore said.
Both Caamal Canul and Spadafore emphasized that the number of layoffs the board is looking at right now is only for the worst-case scenario.
The Lansing School Board plans to determine exactly how many layoff notices to send out at its next meeting, June 2. The budget for next year must be finalized by the end of June.
