MANKATO — Mankato Area Public Schools is not renewing more probationary teacher contracts than normal amid its budget adjustment process, board members approved Monday night.
While the board makes the decision to not renew contracts for probationary teachers and teachers with shorter licensures each year as part of its normal staffing process, this year, more teachers have been added to the list as the district looks to solve a $9.2 million budget deficit, Supt. Paul Peterson said.
“What’s different is the number of non-renewals that are coming forward as a result of the budget adjustment,” said Peterson.
A probationary teacher in Minnesota is defined as someone who is either in their first three years of teaching and has not achieved tenure or someone who is new to the district but achieved tenure somewhere else, Peterson said.
Of the 51 teachers on the list, 32 probationary teachers’ names were added as a result of budget reductions, Director of Administrative Services John Lustig said.
“It’s a difficult process, and it’s unfortunate that we’re in this position. All of these individuals will continue to work for us for the rest of the school year. It’s just one of the parts of staffing that we do on an annual basis, but this year there’s just really a lot of people who are affected because of budget reductions,” Lustig said.
The decision comes after the school board unanimously approved an adjustment plan last month that will be used to help craft a preliminary budget that will be voted on in June.
Teachers, support staff and administration are among those expected to be impacted by adjustments, The Free Press previously reported.
Regular instruction adjustments make up the largest portion of the changes at $3.9 million or 42.56% of the adjustment.
Changes here largely come from plans to adjust to new class size ratios and reduce support staff.
Meanwhile, administration changes account for $1.6 million in adjustments or 17% of the final amount.
Plans include reducing cabinet positions, secondary administration, instructional support and districtwide professional development.
The deficit comes from the district’s efforts to bounce back from COVID-19 and lower-than-expected enrollment numbers.
Last year the board approved taking $6.6 million from the district’s savings to account for its spending being higher than its revenue.
Oct. 1 enrollment numbers showed 261 fewer students than the district was expecting, which resulted in almost $3.4 million less in revenue for the district this fiscal year.