District 11 explains how 53 teaching positions would be eliminated

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Wednesday, District 11 announced how upcoming budget cuts were forcing them to look at the possibility of cutting more than 50 teaching positions.

According to the district, the lower budget is a result of a drop in enrollment. In the past four years, the district has lost 4,519 students. The district says keeping the current teacher-student ratio means eliminating 53 teaching staff positions for the upcoming school year.

Friday, a district official explained how they would go about cutting the positions. First, the district will look at teachers who would be leaving on their own terms and just not rehire their vacant positions. If those vacancies don't add up to the total positions needed to be cut, the district will look at teachers who have been newly hired and whose contracts allow for them not to be renewed.

“When a teacher is new to the district they are on a contractual basis. And they sign what’s called an ‘intent not to rehire — or an intent not to come back the following year. We take a look at those INRs — after attrition — we take a look at the INRs and see where we can not renew contracts for the following year," explained D11 Chief Communications Officer Devra Ashby.

According to the district, these eliminations will account for all 53 positions they need to cut and officials hope they won't have to dip into other teaching positions.

Ashby told KRDO the district wants to stress students' education and futures are their top priority, regardless of funding.

“Our main goal and the boards' main goal is to keep the cuts as far away from the classrooms as possible — that’s always been the case. However — when we look at what’s being cut over the last several years we can’t cut any more from other programs or other areas,” said Ashby.

The district explains it's funded on a per-pupil basis so the decline in enrollment directly affects the funding the district receives.