Kentucky school district to cut dozens of staff positions

BEREA, Ky. (WKYT) – Dozens of staff at Berea Independent Schools are being let go this fall.

It was discussed at a Monday night board meeting. In that meeting, the district said it would be removing 10 elementary school positions, five-and-a-half middle school positions, and eight-and-a-half high school positions.

Those cuts include nine teaching positions across all three schools, several interventionists, and a few special education roles.

“It’s not impersonal. They’re not a number. They matter. They matter to our kids. They matter to each one of us. And we do care,” said district superintendent Dr. Diane Hatchett.

Hatchett said they’ve been working with the Kentucky Department of Education on this plan for months and that the overspending comes from having an abundance of staff but lower enrollment.

She said a lot of the positions being cut were created during COVID, so these cuts are also a way to return to pre-COVID staffing.

“In places that we could be able to move people, we looked to try to shift them around. We didn’t want to have to do it, but we were overstaffed,” she said.

Hatchett added the staffing cuts will save the district $1.27 million.

Parent Jessica Newcomb said losing some of the special education staff will impact her family the most.

“I have two children that require special education here. One of them requires the behavioral interventionist, and I’m worried that, how is he gonna cope and manage his emotions?” Newcomb said.

Hatchett said until the school year ends, they won’t know the full scale of changes that need to be made.

Hatchett added they plan to support impacted staff as much as they can and will even write letters of recommendation for those who need them.

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