School Board eyes staff reduction policy changes

The Iberville Parish School Board has scheduled a special meeting for 6 p.m. tonight (Thursday) at the Central Office to discuss changes in its reduction in personnel policy.

The board last week issued a general notice that it might have to implement the policy as one of several cost-saving measures to bring its budget into balance.

Superintendent P. Edward Cancienne Jr. said, however, he would recommend changes in the school system's policy.

Major changes under consideration include:

– Eliminating a part of the policy encouraging staff members with – the most years of service and the highest salaries to retire, as this might be considered to be age discrimination.

– Eliminating a point system, since employees could be categorized by various criteria by computer.

– Eliminating consideration of job performance, since that is not considered one of the criteria for determining a reduction in staff.

The district will have to reduce spending by $1.7 million to make up for lost state Minimum Foundation Formula revenues, and will have to increase spending to cover increase of $1.6 million for staff retirement benefits, officials said.