Diocese eliminates 55 teaching positions
The following article appeared in the Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice, June 12, 2009.
Diocese eliminates 55 teaching positions
After 36 years of teaching high school students social studies, first at Bishop Hoban and then at Holy Redeemer, Jim Maloney received the notice in the mail.
The Diocese of Scranton doesn't need him anymore.
"The most disappointing part was our administration did not have the courage to call us and tell us to our faces that we are being dismissed," he said.
Maloney's job is one of 55 teaching positions eliminated across the Holy Redeemer and Holy Cross regional school systems, which include schools in Luzerne, Lackawanna, Wayne and Bradford counties. In addition, salaries will be frozen for all employees, but school employees' health insurance premiums will not increase.
Letters informing teachers of their status were mailed Monday, but the official announcement was not made until Thursday in The Catholic Light, the diocese newspaper.
The majority of the eliminations, 36, come from the closing of Ss. Peter and Paul Elementary School in Plains Township, St. Aloysius Elementary School in Wilkes-Barre and St. Vincent Elementary School in Honesdale. The remaining 19 eliminated positions are due to continued declining enrollment across the two systems.
Projections for the 2009-10 school year show Holy Redeemer system enrollment down 357 students, from 3,496 to 3,139. The Holy Cross system enrollment is projected to decrease by 296 students, from 3,198 to 2,902.
"The Diocese hopes to see its school systems grow and continue to operate into the future. At the same time, we must continue to monitor the viability of all of our schools. Hopefully, parents will recognize the value of a Catholic education and enrollment will stabilize," diocese spokesman Bill Genello said via e-mail.
Teachers will be eligible to fill open positions at other schools with the diocese, based on seniority and other criteria outlined by the diocese. They will continue to receive salaries until Aug. 21 and health benefits until the end of August.
Michael Milz, president of the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers, which is fighting for recognition from Bishop Joseph Martino, said he is upset that because the union is not recognized, the teachers have no protection and are at-will employees that can be let go at any time.
"The fair system, and the way any other system works, is last hired is first to be asked to leave in a layoff," Milz said.
Teachers build seniority in the school system, in a specific school, in either elementary or secondary education and in a specific subject area. When teachers change schools because of consolidations, they lose seniority built up over years. Therefore, teachers like Maloney with decades of experience with the Diocese of Scranton can have low seniority because they changed schools, and be first to let go during layoffs.
"They used them up and threw them away when they didn't need them anymore," Milz said. "This will destroy the system. It destroys morale. It rewards no one for dedication."
If enrollment increases by the beginning of the school year, it is possible that the laid-off teachers could be hired to handle the additional students, according to the diocese.
A similar version of this story appeared in the Scranton Times Tribune.
Diocese eliminates 55 teaching positions
After 36 years of teaching high school students social studies, first at Bishop Hoban and then at Holy Redeemer, Jim Maloney received the notice in the mail.
The Diocese of Scranton doesn't need him anymore.
"The most disappointing part was our administration did not have the courage to call us and tell us to our faces that we are being dismissed," he said.
Maloney's job is one of 55 teaching positions eliminated across the Holy Redeemer and Holy Cross regional school systems, which include schools in Luzerne, Lackawanna, Wayne and Bradford counties. In addition, salaries will be frozen for all employees, but school employees' health insurance premiums will not increase.
Letters informing teachers of their status were mailed Monday, but the official announcement was not made until Thursday in The Catholic Light, the diocese newspaper.
The majority of the eliminations, 36, come from the closing of Ss. Peter and Paul Elementary School in Plains Township, St. Aloysius Elementary School in Wilkes-Barre and St. Vincent Elementary School in Honesdale. The remaining 19 eliminated positions are due to continued declining enrollment across the two systems.
Projections for the 2009-10 school year show Holy Redeemer system enrollment down 357 students, from 3,496 to 3,139. The Holy Cross system enrollment is projected to decrease by 296 students, from 3,198 to 2,902.
"The Diocese hopes to see its school systems grow and continue to operate into the future. At the same time, we must continue to monitor the viability of all of our schools. Hopefully, parents will recognize the value of a Catholic education and enrollment will stabilize," diocese spokesman Bill Genello said via e-mail.
Teachers will be eligible to fill open positions at other schools with the diocese, based on seniority and other criteria outlined by the diocese. They will continue to receive salaries until Aug. 21 and health benefits until the end of August.
Michael Milz, president of the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers, which is fighting for recognition from Bishop Joseph Martino, said he is upset that because the union is not recognized, the teachers have no protection and are at-will employees that can be let go at any time.
"The fair system, and the way any other system works, is last hired is first to be asked to leave in a layoff," Milz said.
Teachers build seniority in the school system, in a specific school, in either elementary or secondary education and in a specific subject area. When teachers change schools because of consolidations, they lose seniority built up over years. Therefore, teachers like Maloney with decades of experience with the Diocese of Scranton can have low seniority because they changed schools, and be first to let go during layoffs.
"They used them up and threw them away when they didn't need them anymore," Milz said. "This will destroy the system. It destroys morale. It rewards no one for dedication."
If enrollment increases by the beginning of the school year, it is possible that the laid-off teachers could be hired to handle the additional students, according to the diocese.
A similar version of this story appeared in the Scranton Times Tribune.
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