Eastbayri.com

PORTSMOUTH - Twenty-nine teachers in the Portsmouth School District have been given notices of non-renewal or termination.

State law requires that any teacher whose contract may not be renewed be notified by March 1.

The teachers received notices first from Superintendent Lynn Krizic in anticipation of the official notices, and then a second notice was sent to them after the school committee voted Feb. 14 to accept the notices.

“This is not an easy time of the year either for us or for the staff who are receiving these notices,” said Dr. Krizic.

There are still some unknowns for next year, including funding, enrollment numbers, and program statuses, and some of the positions may come back, she said.

“At this point in time I couldn’t tell you how many of the positions will come back,” she said.

The reasons for the notices – non-renewals go to non-tenured staff and terminations to tenured – were divided into categories, as detailed in the Feb. 14 meeting highlights.

One termination and 10 non-renewals were issued for uncertainty of funding and/or programming changes.

Six staff members and substitute teachers were issued notices because of limited employment contracts. Four part-time teachers (who work less than 135 days of the 180 day school year) were also given non-renewal notices.

Declining enrollment led to non-renewal notices for three teachers while one other received notice because of another, more senior, teacher returning from a leave of absence.

Two tenured teachers received notice for “deficiencies noted in performance that have not been remedied” while two non-tenured positions will be re-opened because “we believe that there are more qualified candidates.”

Seven notices were to Hathaway Elementary teachers, one for Melville Elementary, and two that go between those schools. The middle school faculty received 10 notices. Nine went to high school teachers.

“We were very thoughtful and careful,” said Dr. Krizic of making the list. They did not want to hand out excess amounts of notices.

The 29 notices delivered represent about 15 percent of the 193 teachers on the district seniority list, which does not include about a dozen part-time and long-term substitutes.

Last year, 25 teachers were given notice, said Dr. Krizic.