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Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - The Rochester School District administration continues to prepare for job cuts associated with $14 million in budget cuts planned for the next school year.

School officials briefed members of the Rochester School Board tonight on the latest numbers. It's expected that the size of the school district's workforce will need to be reduced by just under 4%, which translates to just over 100 full-time equivalent positions(FTE).

Rochester School District
Rochester School District
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It's anticipated the number of actual lay-offs will be vastly smaller due to retirements, voluntary resignations, and other regular types of attrition, along with the ability of affected employees to transfer into open positions and retain their employment. School District Chief Administrative Officer John Carlson emphasized that the school district currently has 112 unfilled positions and most of those positions have been open for several years.

Rochester School District
Rochester School District
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At the classroom level, the spending reductions are expected to eliminate about 30 FTE classroom and direct service teachers for a reduction of 2.5% Numerically, the largest teacher reductions are expected at the 6th-grade level with a cut of 8.5 FTE, which is a reduction of nearly 19%. At the same time, the school district is anticipating adding staff in a number of areas.  They include custodial, nursing, and special education.

District administrators did identify 8 employees who will likely be placed on unrequested leave at the end of the school year. The School Board is expected to vote at an upcoming meeting to lay off 3 teachers, 2 COVID-19 Response Facilitators, an administrative coordinator, a lead facilities specialist, and a marketing and communications specialist.

The School Board is expected to vote on the budget containing the cuts at a meeting in late June.

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