Montessori School faces staffing cutbacks
BEMIS, Tenn. — Dozens of parents gathered at the Montessori School of Bemis Thursday afternoon, wanting answers after learning a dozen educator jobs could be done away with. New guidance from the U.S. Department of Education said the Jackson-Madison County School System’s distribution of funds is uneven, and need to address what they call over-staffing at the school. “It’s unfair, it’s unacceptable,” Cynthia Chandler-Snell said after the meeting. Chandler-Snell was among the more than 50 Montessori School of Bemis parents who were told Thursday night their school will likely lose 12 teacher assistants. “If you’re changing the way they’re being educated mid-semester, they leave us with no choice. There’s been talk of changing this before the end of December that’s an outrageous and unreasonable time frame,” Chandler-Snell told WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News. However, Dr. Verna Ruffin said the district has little choice in re-assigning the educators, saying it is the state not the budget dictating change. “This has nothing to do with Jackson-Madison County School’s funding,” Dr. Ruffin said. “We have the money to spend on the current staffing that you have here in Bemis. What we do not have, is, we do not have equitable staffing across the district as a result of the school having that one-to-one ratio, you know, teacher and teacher assistants.” Ruffin went on to say it boils down to how this school is funded. She said no federal money, like Title One funds, can be used, which means the district must make up the difference, giving the appearance the system is spending more here than any other school. There are options Dr. Ruffin said, that can be considered to keep the teaching assistants, like raising private funds to fill the $300,000 gap or increase funding at all schools, which would amount to about $4 million. Parents said they should have more time. “We didn’t make the decision to come to this school in a period of two months,” Chandler-Snell said, “so we certainly can’t make the decision to change schools in a period of two months.” Dr. Ruffin said until there’s been a definitive response from the state, no teachers are going anywhere. The School Board will discuss the comparability report at their next meeting, on November 13.
