Greenfield Teachers' Union in "Emergency Mode" as president calls the current situation: "Horrendous"

A district-wide announcement Thursday that pink slips will be going out to every teacher in the Greenfield School District is leaving teachers in shock. Most will be re-hired, though, and the salaries of those who are not will help cover next year's budget shortfall. But, now there is an even more urgent problem, which is how to cover the payroll for May and June of this year.

Mark McLaughlin, Business Manager for the Greenfield School District said at last week's school committee meeting that there may be only $400,000 left to cover the last two months of school. Based on an average amount of the total budget, it costs approximately $1.3 million per month to run the schools. Leaving officials with an estimated $2 million short.

That information comes on the heels of severe budget cuts for next year, including the potential for dozens of layoffs and school consolidation.

"We don't know who's going to be returning next year. What we're going to be teaching. How many students we may or may not have. There's a lot of question marks so it makes planning very difficult," said Christine Perham, a biology teacher at Greenfield High School.

Mayor Christine Forgey says the problem is that the school department is spending more than it has in its budget, not that money is missing.

But like all of us, when we write checks with no money in the bank, the checks bounce. And who gets hurt -- Forgey said it could be the teachers.

"I feel bad for the employees. I really do at this point. They work very hard and, contractually, there is an obligation there," Forgey said.

Tom Bevacqua, Greenfield Teachers' Union President, said that teachers have legally binding contracts, "So that the talk of not getting paid for now, is very premature and probably inaccurate."

But, Forgey said the money will have to come from somewhere, and right now, the options are limited. She warned district officials and committee members that decisions have to be made fast, since layoffs may not be enough at this point.

"Step up to the plate and do something. And do it now. Do it as a group and make a decision. Indecision is devastating," Forgey said.

Bevacqua said the Teachers' Union was made aware Thursday that every teacher in the school district will receive a pink slip on June 1, but not everyone will actually be fired. He said it is a measure to protect contract agreements between the union and the school district, because no one knows the total number of teachers will need to cut.

The committee meets Thursday night to try to figure out an exact figure as to how much money is left in the school budget for Fiscal Year 2008. At that point, Forgey said, more definitive measures can be taken.

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