HUNTINGTON Ƶ A list of service and professional personnel in Cabell County Schools who were slated to be transferred or have their positions cut has significantly shortened, Deputy Superintendent Justin Boggs told the Cabell County Board of Education during a regular meeting Tuesday.
In April, the board approved 76 professional and 59 service personnel recommended for transfer, as well as 84 professional and 67 service personnel on the reduction-in-force (RIF) list recommended to be cut.
This list included all of the countyƵs career literacy teachers and technical support and training (TSTS) positions and half of its elementary school counselors.
More transfer and RIF notices were given out this year compared to previous years. Last year, 50 professional and 32 service personnel were recommended to be transferred, while 60 professional and 14 service personnel received RIF notices.
Superintendent Tim Hardesty explained this was partially due to declining enrollment leading to a loss of state aid for personnel, as well as the loss of COVID relief funds which were paying for some positions.
Boggs, reading updates from Hardesty, who was absent from TuesdayƵs meeting, said of the 84 professional personnel who were on the RIF list, only 22 employees remain on the preferred recall list.
Boggs explained the list may have shortened due to vacancies caused by retirements, resignations or shifts in positions.
During TuesdayƵs meeting, 31 of the professional personnel on the RIF list were approved for some position in the county.
Ƶ(Office staff) work very, very hard to get those folks into positions and make sure that they have employment for next year, and again, theyƵll still be moving and shaking around,Ƶ he said. ƵWe expect that number to go down a little bit, go and shrink down, hopefully we get down to zero, but time will help with that.Ƶ
Of all of the elementary educators who received a RIF notice, only one remains on the list, Boggs said. He said the majority of the educators who still remain on the list are secondary-level, but the county will be hiring employees in those categories. Of the 67 service personnel who were on the RIF list, he said 52 still remain.
ƵI know that does not sound as impressive as the professional personnel; however, being that is all based on seniority, a lot of these people are shifting around to different position, and as people land in positions that theyƵve been on, different jobs, that will kind of filter down, and we were told and we expect that number to shrink as we get closer to the end of summer,Ƶ he said.
At this point, Boggs said there have been a total of 59 service personnel transferred into new positions.
During delegations, representatives of Kingdom Life Fellowship Church in Nitro spoke again to request the former Meadows Elementary School property at 1601 Washington Blvd.
This is the third meeting in which the church has requested the property. In a December meeting Autism Services Center and the City of Huntington also requested the property.
Boggs said, as the property technically is not yet vacant, the board cannot make a decision on whether to release it to another entity. He said students and staff are still on track to move into the new school on 1 Wildcat Way in the fall, and once that happens, the board can discuss the former property in more depth.
The board will have its next regular meeting on July 1.
Katelyn Aluise is an education and court reporter.
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