Update from this morning's meeting

This morning was the day....I along with 77 other teachers were invited to attend a meeting with our superintendent. Of course the rumors had been flying but thankfully I went to my principal a couple of days before to ask about this meeting. Had I heard all this news for the first time at 7 am there would be no way I could have taught 42 children today.


The meeting was grim, dark, depressing....insert any other adjective you can think of that is negative here. What it boils down to is that our state budget is being slashed and the biggest part of the state budget is schooling. What that means for my district is that we're being cut anywhere from 2.3 -2.8 million dollars. The biggest part of our school budget is personnel. So in order to make the biggest dent in the budget they have to lay off all probationary teachers. I was told that we are in survival mode and that it's just business at this point. Thankfully I'm not head of our school, because this business would sink. I kept looking around thinking about how each person there represented a family, a life that would be greatly affected by the future of this meeting. Some married couples were there together because they both were getting laid off....that made me feel even worse. So here's what lies ahead for me and 78 other teachers in Jasper: tomorrow we will all receive a letter from our principals saying that we are going to be terminated aka non-renewed for next year. From there we have two weeks to let our principals know if we are either going to find employment else where (good luck) or ask to be rehired if the funds become available. From there we will be presented to the board and our names will be in the newspaper as being non-renewed (boo). As funds become more available (hopefully by May) slowly people will be asked to be re-hired BUT not everyone will get their jobs back. So as of tomorrow, I will be jobless for next year and hopefully I will get a letter of intent which states that I will have a job for next year. Not a contract but just as good. The letters will come slowly and I don't know when or if I will get one. So that's all I know for now. Thank you so much for your prayers. I can't begin to tell you how at peace I've felt through all of this and I know it's because of those of you who are praying for me. Please continue to pray for all teachers, not just me, who will be affected. It's going to be a long journey.

God is good, and I know He's going to take care of us. What kind of faith would I have if I just gave up when the going got tough? Boy, that's a hard lesson to learn.