Staff changes amid LJISD early college consolidation

Last week, the La Joya ISD Board of Managers voted in favor of consolidating their specialty high schools. But the modification to the early college high school program also comes with staffing adjustments.

Beginning next year, Jimmy Carter will be the only early college high school at La Joya ISD. All the current students at La Joya ECHS, Thelma Salinas ECHS and the Academy of Health Science Professions will automatically have a place at the consaolidated Jimmy Carter if they want to continue in the early college environment. However, it is not as simple a transition for the employees.

The district will assign placement to the employees from all four institutions based on policy DFFB (LOCAL). A school system enacts policy DFFB when there is a reduction in force due to a program change, such as the ECHS consolidation. By using DFFB, the district intends to fairly assess the employees by following a specific process to determine their placement at La Joya ISD next year. This is the same policy the district enacted when it made staffing adjustments to the special education departments last semester.

Chapter 21 staff (usually employees with state board of education certificates) will go through five successive criteria before receiving their placement. The five criteria are as follows:

• Qualifications for current or projected assignments
• Performance (based on evaluations and discipline data)
• Extra compensated duties
• Professional background
• Seniority

Non Chapter 21 staff will have the opportunity to apply for a position at the ECHS and other open positions within the district. Anyone who does not secure an assignment at the lone early college high school, Chapter 21 staff included, will be able to participate in a priority transfer window.

Chief of Human Capital and Talent Development Jaime Miller presented the process at the Jan. 15 meeting.

“I understand the impact that this might have on our staff. I understand that we have dedicated teachers — as our students pointed out — and staff members that not only have responsibilities for their job, but responsibilities to families and to the community,” the chief said to the public. “I want you to know that we do not see this as a list of positions on a page. As the human capital and talent development department, we see it as people.”

Miller said her department will be the team applying the criteria from policy DFFB to each employee. Additionally, they will help other staff members apply for open positions. They have committed to open and transparent communication with all staff impacted by the consolidation. Throughout the process, the department will offer office hours, schedule meetings and host a job fair for all affected employees. The district also anticipates losing some positions through attrition — when employees leave the district of their own accord and administration closes the position instead of refilling it. So, the chief staff encourages everyone to monitor the job postings.

“Like our students said, we have amazing, dedicated employees here and we want them to be able to stay,” Miller said.

The chief of human capital and talent development said another focus for her department is clarifying misunderstandings. Following the consolidation proposal last November, a rumor spread that Jimmy Carter teachers would not have to go through the policy DFFB criteria process, which is false.

Now that the board of managers has approved the resolution to consolidate the specialty high schools, the human capital department can begin the staffing review. On March 12, the board of managers will vote on the final list of eliminated positions for the next school year.

“We want to really be human in this process,” Miller said at the Jan. 15 meeting. “We are committed to following DFFB policy, we are committed to applying the criteria that are outlined in DFFB and applying it across all four campuses…We are committed to providing opportunities to our amazing staff to stay within La Joya ISD, whether it’s at the early college high school or in other areas. But I do want you to know that we understand the impact that this could have.”

Superintendent Dr. Marcey Sorensen echoed the same sentiment at the meeting.

“Schools are second homes to teachers,” the superintendent said. “A lot of times teachers spend more time in our classrooms, in our buildings than they do in their homes. It takes a lot of preparation to prepare for great instruction — we know that. So none of [this] is taken lightly.”