VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – Volusia County schools are heading into spring break now, but when class is back in session, there could be big changes announced as far as who is leading the classroom next school year.
Federal COVID-19 funding for schools is done, and the district told News 6 that they have to reorganize.
The district leaders could not say just how many teachers will be affected by this because it will be decided based on each individual school’s budget.
Instead, they said it will be up to principals to make cuts and changes for the next school year.
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“If the student enrollment numbers are not changing significantly, then why would we change the allocations that we’re providing?” said Elizabeth Albert, President of Volusia United Educators, the local teachers union.
Albert said all teachers in the district received an email from district leaders on Thursday that has led to concern about job security.
News 6 obtained the email, which said in summary that the pandemic funding resources have expired, and schools will now allocate staff according to student interests and needs.
The district said it received nearly $200 million in that funding over the last four years.
“We’re having to make the appropriate modifications to go back to our budget as we lived before the pandemic,” said board member Ruben Colon.
Now, Deputy Superintendent Rachel Hazel said the district will give each school a budget for the principal to work with.
She explained that if the principal can’t afford a teacher, that teacher will have options. Hazel said they could transfer to another school where there are vacancies.
However, if the teacher were, for example, instructing a small elective, and that’s all they were certified to teach and there wasn’t a vacancy at another school in that subject, they will likely have to get recertified in another subject if they want to keep teaching.
“We have good quality teachers. Some may be utilized in a little different way, but they’ll continue to meet the needs of students, and we will continue to have jobs for those who want to serve our students,” said Hazel.
Hazel said principals may choose to combine roles, too, in order to keep some electives going.
“Now, instead of that one-size-fits-all model, the schools are given, ‘Here’s a menu, here’s a possibility of spending the money that’s earned at your school,’” she said.
The allocations were supposed to be finalized on Friday, meaning teachers will find out when they get back from Spring Break what the decisions will be.
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