WENTZVILLE, Mo. — The COVID-19 pandemic is hitting some school districts hard.
This week, the Wentzville school district — one of the fastest growing in the state — announced layoffs and pay cuts.
“It's not an easy decision," said Wentzville Superintendent Curtis Cain. "Tt’s a very, very tough decision for us to make.”
The district made a tough call when they laid off 21 workers and reduced pay for nearly 600 others.
Those include:
- 232 bus drivers and bus aides
- 5 dispatchers
- 54 child nutrition workers
- 215 instructional assistants
- 85 paraprofessionals
- 19 library assistants
- 8 middle school/high school attendance clerks
“There are push-pulls in terms of challenges that we're all facing, it's not just Wentzville, it's not just St. Charles County, it’s the entirety of the state and I'd argue it’s the whole nation,” Cain said.
The decision was made in part because of their new hybrid model.
Wentzville schools decided that, in the best interest of their students and staff, they would do four days of in-person learning and one day virtually.
The employees who are taking a pay cut will no longer be working on that one day, Wednesday.
But they are given other alternatives.
“We have a list that’s being developed so that folks that do want to work on that Wednesday will in fact have the opportunity to do so,” Cain said.
On that virtual day of learning, the school will get a deep cleaning from sanitation crews.
“It is a serious process and we believe it’s a necessary process," Cain said. "Everything needs to be cleaned and properly sanitized in order to keep everyone as safe as possible.”
Cain said, while these changes may look different for everyone, the district's main priority remains the same.
“What happens in the classroom is the driver in terms of the reasons that we literally exist as a school district. As long as we keep that in the forefront of what we're doing, were ultimately going to be OK,” said Cain.
In a statement, 5 On Your Side was told hours will be restored and those laid off will be invited back when the school returns to a normal.
You can read the full statement below.
In the spring, there was a period of time during the initial district closure where the WSD was able to pay all employees, regardless of whether or not they were working.
"It was feasible and it was the right thing to do at that time given the abrupt closure," said Superintendent Dr. Curtis Cain.
Since then, the WSD received notification from the state that $3.9M in funding would be withheld for the last fiscal year and our CFO expects another $4.7 million in withholdings this fiscal year due to the impact of the pandemic.
"These are challenging and uncertain times and we regret that there needs to be any reduction in employee hours," said Dr. Cain. "But without the presence of students one day a week while the District is in Level 2, this was a necessary step to notify employees who will not be working on Wednesdays that they would experience a reduction in hours.”
In his letter to affected employees, Dr. Cain wrote, “These are certainly challenging times, but we will continue to take proactive measures with every decision we make to support our ability to return to normal operations as soon as it is safe to do so."
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