At least two Utah school districts are considering jettisoning their non-tenured teachers as a way to absorb budget cuts.
Provo and Logan school districts have sent cautionary letters of "nonrenewal" to probationary teachers, those who have been employed for fewer than three years, the benchmark for tenure.
In some cases, teachers were deemed bad hires by school principals.
Other personnel cuts are budget-related, but may never materialize, say district officials.
"As a human resources professional, I realize I'm killing our seed bed. It's not good," lamented Robert Gentry, Provo district's personnel director. "Our seed bed is our future."
Gentry explained that most of the 35 to 40 letters he mailed were pro-forma warnings of a worst-case scenario.
Though loathe to alarm people unnecessarily, Gentry said he is required to notify teachers who aren't up for rehire before the end of their contract year.
"We still don't know the exact number of dollars we've been cut," said Gentry. "But in 37 years, I've never seen it this bad."
Alpine, Jordan and Granite have no plans to follow suit.
But Logan declared it won't renew eight teacher contracts next year in part because of budget cuts, according to a story in the Logan Herald Journal .
Debbie White, president of the Utah chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, said the district's precautionary measures are unfortunate but legal and understandable given today's economic climate.
Provisional employees are considered "at-will" and can be fired for any undisclosed reason, said White. For this reason, nonrenewals aren't considered true layoffs.
They are bound, however, to worsen Utah's already large class sizes.
Carbon district lost three teachers to attrition, translating to three additional children per kindergarten-through-second grade class, said Robert Cox, the district's director of special programs. "Our elementary averages were comparatively low. But it will have an effect."
