Enrollment Declines, Registration Changes Lead to More Teacher Cuts

Eight tenured teachers and five probationary teachers are slated to lose their jobs because of declining enrollment and changes in class registration patterns.

The Hopkins School Board on Thursday approved a resolution that recommended placing the tenured teachers on “unrequested leave of absence” and another terminating or not renewing contracts for probationary teachers who haven’t yet received tenure. It also terminated 52 temporary contracts, which includes additional work given to tenured teachers.

(The School Board still must approve additional resolutions finalizing the cuts after the affected teachers have had a chance to respond.)

Declining enrollment has made the cuts of the School Board’s spring business. Last year, approved resolutions that cut eight tenured teachers and two probationary teachers.

Changing patterns in the classes students registered for also played a part, said Nik Lightfoot, the district’s director of administrative services. Registration patterns and enrollment declines are so intertwined that Lightfoot said he couldn’t specify how many job losses resulted from each factor.

None of the layoffs were made to counter .

The cuts represent a worst-case scenario, Lightfoot said. Some of the teachers could be hired back as the district gets a firmer idea about staffing needs for the fall.

And the news wasn’t all gloomy. Because of retirements, the district is actually hiring six elementary teachers, he said. More than 400 people applied for those positions.

Still, Hopkins faces caused by a mix of demographic trends and increasing open enrollment to other school districts. The district had 103 fewer students Oct. 1 than it had a year earlier, according to a November report.

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Hopkins Public Schools enrollment

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