Helena school district cuts more than 50 non-tenured teachers due to budget strains

The Helena School Board of Trustees voted unanimously Tuesday night not to renew the contracts of 52 non-tenured teachers, drawing concerns from both parents and educators.

This year, the number of teachers who were “pink-slipped” doubled from last year’s 26 – just one of the outcomes of the school’s budget strains and the failure of levies last week, according to Karen Ogden, the district’s communications officer.

Although it’s common for school districts to not renew the contracts of teachers who haven’t worked for three consecutive years, Helena school officials said these deep cuts are necessary as the board considers how to balance the district’s budget. Another 19 teachers in the district have announced their retirements or resignations, meaning Helena schools could have as many as 71 fewer working teachers next year. 

“We’re trying to be upfront about this,” board trustee Jeff Hindoien said during the meeting Tuesday. “This gives us the flexibility to try and configure what we’re going to do for next year, and then take what we’ve got in our non-tenured ranks that were not renewed and do our best to plug as many back in as we can.”

The district won’t know exactly how many teachers can be rehired until they finalize the budget in August, leaving some teachers frustrated and unsure about their future. 

“It is disheartening to hear and to feel that it does not matter how hard you work, you are just a number to this board,” Brittney Booton, a teacher at Broadwater Elementary School, said during the public comment portion of the meeting. She said she came to speak on behalf of herself and the other non-tenured teachers with non-renewed contracts.

“We are sad, we are frustrated, and many more unfortunate things right now. We have dedicated ourselves to our students and to this district,” Booton said. “We should not be required to apply for our jobs on your time frame. You are at serious risk of losing a lot of really quality educators in our district, which you pride yourself on having.”

The school board will use the recommendations prepared by a budget consensus committee in case the school levies failed as a base for determining the district’s next steps.

Some of those recommendations would eliminate or reduce school programs such as the PEAK gifted and talented program, physical education and music. As a result of the staff cuts, bigger classroom sizes are also anticipated for the next school year. 

Abigail Nyhof has been a music teacher for schools in Helena for the past 14 years. She spoke to the board about how consolidating classrooms and programs like music is detrimental to students and teachers who may have to teach a subject they are not qualified to teach. 

“As a taxpayer and community member, I know that our students deserve a well-rounded education from teachers who are as qualified as they possibly can be, rather than their minimum,” she said.

The school board of trustees will hold a work session concerning the budget for the upcoming school year on Tuesday, May 21, at 3:30 p.m., at the Project for Alternative Learning School, 815 Front St.

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