A reorganization in the central office at Fulton County Schools will result in layoffs for some employees who compete for new jobs and are not hired by June 30.
The Fulton County school board voted Tuesday to eliminate 51 positions including those held by two retiring area superintendents. Sixty-two new jobs have been created to bring administrators and instructional resources closer to schools.
Affected employees are not guaranteed work and will have to compete against each other and outsiders for positions. Some reclassified jobs will have new requirements.
"We are looking for the most talented individuals to be hired for positions," said Ron Wade, Fulton Schools chief human resources officer. "Many of them might be internal candidates. We also want to give external candidates an opportunity to compete. Everyone might not find a job."
Of Fulton School's 14,000 employees, 638 work in the central office. They include administrators who have teaching certificates and employees who work in business roles.
Staff in jobs that are being eliminated -- a language arts director, a math director, a chief officer of operations among others -- have been notified. Some have already begun the process of reapplying for other jobs.
Several of the new jobs have been realigned to support local principals and students in one of four new geographic groupings of elementary, middle and high schools. These academic clusters are being called "learning communities" and have been established in the northeastern, northwestern, central and southern parts of the district.
Some staffers are worried that they may not find work.
"People are concerned," said Linda Bryant, school board vice chair. "Most of them will retain their job, but the title may be different."
While priority won't be given to current employees, Bryant added that they still could have the upper hand. "If you have been doing a job for many years, you should rise to the top. You probably know more about that job than somebody who walks in off the street."
The new jobs have been posted on www.fultonschools.org. They include a new position as a central office athletic director, a program specialist for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and four executive directors assigned to the learning communities.
Wade said as the number of area superintendents are reduced from six to four, the remaining executives will need help covering larger territories. The four executive directors will help handle the business of running schools so area superintendents can focus on the delivery of instruction at schools in their neighborhoods.
If displaced employees are not qualified for the new positions, they may apply for openings at local schools. Only time will tell who will ultimately be without a job.
"Our hope is that we have to [layoff] no one -- that would be our desire," Wade said. "Come June 30, anyone that is left in those jobs will have to be separated through a reduction in force."
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