Salerno says teacher layoffs are imminent

WINSTED — The Winchester Public School district will lay off teachers just before the start of school year 2011-12, according to Superintendent of Schools Blaise Salerno, who spoke at a Board of Education Budget and Finance Committee meeting held Thursday, Jan. 6.

According to Salerno, the layoffs will result from the Board of Education’s decision to move the town’s seventh- and eighth-graders to the semi-private high school, The Gilbert School.

Salerno emphasized several times that the details of the layoffs are not final and that he would not know exactly how many teachers would be laid off for several weeks.

But according to a report he gave the board, Salerno proposed that eight teachers could be laid off, including full-time teachers in the subjects of computer education, music, in-school suspension, seventh- and eighth-grade language arts, science and a sixth-grade teacher.

Also, he proposed that two part-time teachers in the subjects of seventh- and eighth-grade math and social studies should be laid off.

“The reason why there is a grand total of eight teachers is because nobody in our school system will give up a full-time job to accept a half-time job at Gilbert, which means that someone in our school district will get laid off from a full-time position,� Salerno said to the board.

Salerno added that there might be more layoffs, depending on whether teachers from the school district end up being hired at Gilbert.

“It could be as high as nine, 10 or 11 layoffs,� Salerno said. “If our teachers [who are eligible] do not go to Gilbert, you are going to see the numbers increase.�

He emphasized to the board members that the numbers given in the draft report were not final.