REDUCTION IN STAFF | Policy Manual | Mauston, School District of

4131 - REDUCTION IN STAFF

It is the responsibility of the Board to provide the staff necessary for the implementation of the educational program of the District and the operation of the schools and to do so efficiently and economically.

The Board reserves the right to eliminate positions in the District and/or to reduce the staff whenever reasons of decreased enrollment of students, return to duty of regular staff members after leaves of absence, suspension of schools or territorial changes affecting the District, or other circumstances warrant.

The Superintendent shall determine the appropriate employees for reduction considering all factors that s/he deems important and in the best interests of the District.

No employee whose position has been eliminated shall have any right to be contacted by the District in the event that a vacancy opens in the future for which the laid off employee may be qualified. Likewise, no such employee is entitled to a future position or is provided any preference over other applicants. Any employee whose position was eliminated under this policy may file a grievance under Policy 4340. Staff whose employment ended with the District due to a reduction in force, shall not be prevented from applying for future positions with the District.

Staff Furloughs

A furlough is a temporary reduction in hours for individuals or groups of employees that is intended to be of a short and predetermined duration, either in terms of days, weeks, or until the resumption of school operations. Furloughs differ from lay-offs in that a lay-off is of an indefinite, potentially permanent nature.

In the event of a temporary disruption to school services due to unforeseen circumstances, such as a public health emergency, natural disaster, or some other disruption to school programming, the Superintendent may temporarily reduce employee hours as necessary and shall inform the Board as soon as practicable regarding the actions taken and the plan for managing the circumstances.

Furloughs may be targeted to a particular department, building, or program. Furloughs may be used to reduce all employees' hours consistent with the District's needs while minimizing the impact on individual staff members. Generally speaking, furloughs should be administered in a way to avoid any employee from serving a furlough period of a full week or more in a row, wherever possible. This may involve distributing furlough days or blocks of days shorter than a full week, spread out over a period of several weeks or months.

Furloughs may be unpaid if based on budgetary concerns, or employees may be allowed to use available accrued paid time off. Furloughs shall be used only in a manner consistent with any individual contract requirements, or other employee rights or benefits, such as FMLA benefits.