The federal sequestration may lead to cuts to early childhood education staff in Jefferson County Public Schools.
The Jefferson County Teachers Association confirms that JCPS alerted principals last week that up to 100 early childhood educators could be cut, though district officials say it's still too early to tell. A teacher told the union her principal and a JCPS official informed staff that cuts could be possible, says JCTA deputy executive director James Hughley who later confirmed the JCPS email sent to principals. At this time it's unknown which schools or specific positions could potentially be overstaffed, Hughley says. “The sequestration is creating a situation where funding for these positions is gone, that the funds aren’t there anymore, and so now the positions have to go away as a result,' he says. District officials say the true effects of sequestration are still unknown and school districts expect to learn in May how much less money will be funneled from the federal government. JCPS officials say it’s too early to know the effects of the sequester and they can't say with 100 percent certainty that any positions are being cut from any department. The Kentucky Department of Education held a webinar last week and told districts to be conservative when writing next year’s budgets and that, at this point, the sequestration includes five percent cuts to the state each of the next 10 years. Hughley says JCPS remains optimistic that these 100 potential layoffs could drop, and says some of the cut teachers may be able to find work elsewhere in the district. “These particular employees could possibly transfer into a kindergarten position, a kindergarten teacher position, so I think there are some options available," he says. JCPS staff is also expecting less money to be available at the state level.
