Combining Orange Ridge, Rogers Garden means 26 staffers have to move to other Manatee schools

BRADENTON -- After combining the staffs at Orange Ridge-Bullock Elementary School and G.D. Rogers Garden Elementary School, the Manatee County School District will have to move 14 teachers and 12 paraprofessionals to other district schools before the new academic year starts in August.

"Most of you will still be together," Deputy Superintendent of Instruction Cynthia Saunders told staff Thursday at Orange Ridge.

District and union officials met with the staff at Orange Ridge after the Manatee County School Board approved new attendance zones Tuesday for the central corridor as part of a long-term plan to balance district enrollment. A similar meeting is planned Friday afternoon for the G.D. Rogers Garden staff.

The board decision effectively shuts down Orange Ridge for the 2016-17 school year and gives Rogers Garden -- opened in 2009 as a choice only school -- an attendance zone. Rogers Garden cannot hold as many stu

dents as Orange Ridge has now, so some students were moved to Oneco, Daughtrey and Samoset elementaries. Because there will be fewer students, fewer staff members are needed.

When school staff members were added up and student enrollment taken into account, a spillover of 14 teachers and 12 paraprofessionals was left.

Handling the extra teachers starts with a voluntary transfer process, Saunders and Manatee Education Association President Pat Barber said.

Officials guaranteed teachers in good standing and whose contracts will be renewed for the 2016-17 year a position next year. School principals have until April 29 to inform teachers not being renewed, and affected teachers will know beforehand so they can make other plans, Saunders said.

On Friday, teachers at both schools will get a list of internal position open in the district and can fill out a form listing their top three choices.

The form is due back to human resources by April 22. Human resources will then move 14 teachers to positions of choice in a new school based on seniority. Once 14 have been moved, the process will close and the rest of the teachers will work at Rogers Garden.

If 14 teachers do not move voluntarily, an involuntary transfer process would be used where the least-senior teachers would be asked by human resources to pick a new position from district openings. There are at least 100 vacancies in the school district for the 2016-17 school year, Saunders said.

"There's plenty more vacancies than people needing to be displaced," she said.

Saunders and Barber said the involuntary transfer process is unlikely to be necessary.

The teacher process will move along at the same time as the principal process, Saunders said. The district will announce principal and assistant principal moves April 20. It is unclear right now whether Orange Ridge Principal Maribeth Mason or Rogers Garden Principal Latrina Singleton will be the principal when the two schools combine. The district could also bring in a new principal for the combined school.

Officials said they understand the emotions the staff must be feeling, and Barber apologized for not being able to schedule meetings with both staffs at the same time.

"I'm sure everybody wants to feel like one staff instead of two," she said.

Teachers not voluntarily transferred can apply and interview for open jobs during the summer but that's a different process than the transfer. The voluntarily transfer process requires no interview or application.

Meghin Delaney, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7081. Follow her on Twitter @MeghinDelaney.

This story was originally published April 14, 2016 at 11:17 PM with the headline "Combining Orange Ridge, Rogers Garden means 26 staffers have to move to other Manatee schools ."