Anchor Bay Schools Lays Off Paraprofessionals

Anchor Bay Schools laid off several paraprofessionals early this week, the district has confirmed.

"We had to layoff approximately 10 paraprofessionals," Robert Tidd, director of human resources for the district, said Wednesday.

The staff reductions were attributed to scheduling issues and changes in the kindergarten structure from last school year. Multiple teachers, who were previously affected by layoffs, have been called back to kindergarten classrooms this school year, Tidd said.

He did not say exactly how many teachers are returning. He said the district does not have any more layoffs scheduled at this time.

Last spring, Director of Elementary Education Marie Dewitte told Patch the classrooms throughout the day.

While addressing , the school district that placed full-day kindergarten students with paraprofessionals half the day and certified teachers the other half.

"We feel that was highly successful, but we can no longer do that," Dewitte said in April. She added that the full-day teacher structure in kindergarten is necessary for funding from the state

What do you think about the kindergarten structure for this school year?