Nevermind! – Schools reverse some layoffs

Mary Woodward Elementary teacher Tori Dickinson: ‘It feels like I’ve gotten my life back’

By Christina Cooke

The Times, Jun 18, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

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About 13 of the 35 teachers who will be asked to stay will work in elementary school classrooms, and the remaining 22 will be split between the district’s middle and high schools, according to Superintendent Rob Saxton.

District officials were not ready to release which programs would be added back at the middle and high school levels by press time on Wednesday.

Hazelbrook Middle eighth-grader Liz Caron said while it’s great that the district decided to retain some teachers, she wants them all back.

“There are a lot of teachers at the bottom of the chain that hold our schools together,” she said.

Liz said she thinks the district should look at quality more than seniority in deciding which teachers to keep.

“Seniority is important, but we’re losing the teachers who hold our school together and make it fun for students to be there,” she said.

Zurschmeide said her excitement about the rehirings was tempered by the riskiness of the circumstance. Though the state economist has said school districts should expect $6 billion over the next biennium, Zurschmeide is nervous that the state will not even come through with the $5.6 billion around which Tigard-Tualatin is basing its budget.

“The district is certainly taking a gamble there,” she said. “I think it’s the right gamble to take, but it is still a gamble.”

Dickinson says the elation she feels – along with three other teachers who were rehired at her school – is tempered as well.

“Some of our colleagues didn’t get this good news,” she said. “We’re relieved for ourselves, but we still hurt for them.”

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