From our partners at WKEF:
TIPP CITY, Ohio (WKEF) -- Five jobs were cut during the Tipp City Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, May 21. All of them were non-teaching and administrative positions. However, Tipp City Board of Education President Amber Drum made a statement that suggested that some teachers will also be losing their jobs in the near future. Drum clarified that the layoffs had nothing to do with the March levy that passed.
"Alright, old business, 'A. Suspension of contracts admin and non-teaching.' [...] Even though we passed a levy for continual improvements and a new building bond, those two accounts are legally allocated for improvements and a new building and cannot be used for salaries," said Drum. "It’s also important to understand that salaries and benefits make up 80% of the district’s operational account. [...] If we do not do the right-sizing now, it will result in a long-term compounding financial crisis based on salary raises and increased benefit costs. [...] The district leadership has spent countless hours collecting numbers for class size, combing over class schedules to collect data for this decision. The number of reductions break down to approximately 1.5 positions at each grade level."
The board then voted unanimously, 4-0, to approve the two resolutions laying off administrative and non-teaching positions. Tipp City Board of Education Vice President Richard Mains, Sr. was not at the meeting.
The five positions that were eliminated are:
Director of Human Resources -- Dr. Lisa Tuttle-Huff
Administrative Assistant to the Attendance Office -- Mary Hadden
Accounts Payable Specialist -- Wendy Koogler
Maintenance/Custodian 2nd Shift -- Trinity Stevens
Administrative Assistant BOE -- Chelsea Syphrit
Some people were surprised that teacher layoffs were not on the agenda.
"People are a precious commodity," Brenda Mahaney, a teacher and the Tipp City Education Association president-elect said. "We were expecting that the teachers would be on the agenda today, because the RIF process had worked its way out, and we were shocked it wasn’t on the list."
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