Fort Zumwalt Announces Lower Staff Numbers for Next Year, Changes to 2011 Summer School Program

officials announced projections for lower numbers of certified staff next year and also voted on changes to its 2011 summer school program due to lack of state funding  at their regular board meeting on Monday night. 

Deputy Superintendent Dr. Patty Corum estimated that around 20 fewer certified staff would be on the payroll district-wide in 2011-12. She said no educators were being laid off and that class sizes would remain consistent, but some positions were simply not being replaced.

“We looked at every position where someone retired or resigned and decided, do we really need to replace this position or not? And we do that for teachers, for support staff and for administrators,” Corum said, adding that art, music and physical education received special attention. She said 15 certified jobs had been eliminated last year.

Citing a $200,000 savings, the board also voted to suspend summer school physical education classes at the high school level. The district will continue summer school credit recovery classes in the areas of math, science, communications arts and social studies, but in another move, the board voted to hold all high school courses on the campus only.

Board Vice President Mike Price said the changes would be “unpopular with some students” but were “necessary nonetheless.” He thanked the staff for making tough choices on a limited budget.

“My hat’s off to those of you pinching the pennies. Because of you, we’re a strong district now, even with the economy,” Price said.

The board went on to approve facilities and construction manager Bill Weber’s recommendation for a new performance contracting pilot program at , as well as contracts for air conditioning work at four elementary schools—, , and .

Weber said the performance contracting program at North Middle is a green initiative aimed at curbing utility costs and energy usage.

“It focuses primarily on increasing a building’s energy efficiency and reducing its impact on the environment,” Weber said.

Weber said the project is funded by a $250,000 bond issue, but more savings could be found.

“The utility cost savings from doing some of these measures can be used to fund some of the measures, and in addition, there are low-interest loans and some grants out there we might qualify for,” he said.

Three specialty firms made proposals which included updating lighting fixtures and ballasts, installing occupancy sensors and replacing inefficient restroom fixtures. The board approved Weber’s recommendation of the bid by the performance contracting division of Trane USA.

The meeting room was initially filled to capacity as the board acknowledged Zumwalt’s winners from the St. Louis Symphony’s annual Picture the Music competition, where young students are invited to create visual art inspired by specific pieces of classical music. Of the 100 works selected by symphony judges, 32 came from Fort Zumwalt elementary students.