The
Mansfield City Schools Board of Education approved an Employee Severance Plan
(ESP) on Tuesday as a proactive cost-saving step to help avoid steep cuts in
educational programs and potential layoffs. The district projects that approximately 40 employees who are at or near the top of the pay scale will voluntarily accept the ESP, reducing the number of high-salaried staff while maintaining the highest possible educational standards. Overall, the district expects that the plan will help to save millions of dollars over the next several years.
An
informational meeting for all eligible employees has been set for March 4.
Treasurer
Robert Kuehnle noted that many other public school districts in Ohio have
offered the unique severance incentive.
“It is our
responsibility to be good stewards of taxpayers’ money. This will help to
reduce costs and avoid potential layoffs as staff who accept the ESP will
voluntarily leave the district,” Kuehnle said.
Superintendent
Brian Garverick said the ESP also will help to protect educational programs
that encompass all students in preschool through 12th grade.
“We cannot
look only to layoffs as a means of controlling costs because the result would
be program cuts and increases in class sizes,” Garverick said. “We value all of
our employees but we must take appropriate steps to live within our means.”
Kuehnle
emphasized that the voluntary severance program will do much to assure the
district’s financial stability.
“The ESP
doesn’t solve everything but it certainly helps as we look to our fiscal
posture in the years ahead,” he said. “It is this type of budget planning that
will help mitigate cuts and reductions. We believe taxpayers, parents and our
entire educational community support achievement of that goal.”