By Sarah Campbell
scampbell@salisburypost.com
KANNAPOLIS — Forty-nine teacher assistants and 19 teachers were issued pink slips by the Kannapolis City school system last month.
The district released a detailed list of cuts — which will take effect at the end of the current school year and help fill an estimated $2.1 million shortfall — Monday after a request from a Post reporter.
Eleven of the 19 teacher positions being slashed are from the More at Four program. Ellen Boyd, the district’s director of community relations, said all of the teachers and teacher assistants associated with the program have been cut.
“We planned for the elimination of that program because of information from DPI that said funding for More at Four could be ended,” she said. “However, if funding is preserved for More at Four, we will rehire as many More at Four staff as the budget allows.”
State legislators have considered merging the early childhood education programs Smart Start and More at Four in an effort to save money.
Boyd said the majority of teacher assistant jobs being slashed will come from elementary schools, where they are more heavily concentrated.
“Teacher assistants are the largest group affected because the teacher assistant line item is expected to be cut in the state budget more severely than any other personnel category,” Boyd said.
Six custodians, three instructional technology specialists, two administrative assistants, two guidance counselors and one media coordinator are also being laid off.
Assistant principals from every school in the district will have one month of reduced pay.
Thirteen teacher assistants will have their schedules reduced by either 6.25 percent, 12 percent or 25 percent.
Two bus monitors will have their schedules slashed by 25 percent.
Superintendent Dr. Pam Cain said when considering cuts, she has taken a look at “every job in every area” of the district and relied on the district’s reduction in force policy.
The policy cites things such as performance ratings, program enrollment andlength of service as factors to be considered in reduction of force.
Boyd said 118 people were originally affected by the reduction plan, but that number has dwindled to 109 due to retirements and resignations.
And though Rowan County Manager Gary Page has proposed cutting $47,000 from the district next year, Boyd said no additional layoffs are expected.
“We did anticipate that cut, so it’s built into what we’ve already done,” she said.
Officials with the school system say if state budget allocations come in higher than projected they could be keeping some of the personnel set to lose their jobs at the end of this school year.
Cain has described the district’s reduction in force plan as a “worst-case scenario” snapshot.
“We’ve been told to plan for the worst and hope for the best and that’s what we’re doing,” she said. “We hope our final budget will be better than expected and that we can keep our people in place.”
Contact reporter Sarah Campbell at 704-797-7683.

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By the numbers: Teacher layoffs
11 — More at Four teachers
2 — Physical education teachers, one from Kannapolis Middle and Kannapolis Intermediate
2 — Exceptional children’s teachers, one from Fred L. Wilson Elementary and Kannapolis Intermediate
1 — English as a second language teacher who works at Forest Park and Jackson Park elementary schools
1 — English teacher at A.L. Brown High School
1 — Teacher from A.L. Brown’s Second Change program