No teacher layoff, Garner Elementary to remain open
At the meeting held at South Grand Prairie High School, Dr. Hull announced that unlike many school districts in Texas, GPISD will not have a teacher layoff. Although some teachers and administrators may have to relocate campuses, take on additional duties, or move into a different job, all current teachers, except those with performance issues, will be given a new contract.
She also announced Garner Elementary will remain open because of some additional district-wide savings.
Dr. Hull said the district recognized the potential for reduced state funding more than two years ago and began taking cost cutting measures that included:
Changes to Employee Benefits
Eliminated centralized supply warehouse
Rezoned and repurposed 2 schools
Approved “Open Enrollment”
Deferred filling “open” positions by reallocation of resources/workload
Implemented an attendance improvement program
Although the exact amount of reduction in state funding has yet been determined, Dr. Hull said GPISD has used $15 million reduction in its planning. It also applied these four core values to all budget decisions:
- Minimize the impact to students
- Preserve jobs as much as possible
- Move forward in a way that brings us closer together as a community
- Set ourselves up for future success
The latest information on the GPISD budget can be found on its website.
