Posen School Board to research staff layoff procedures

Getting right to the heart of the matter is an earmark of the Posen School Board, and that?s exactly what occurred Monday night as kitchen staff members showed up to see what would happen when some staff layoffs went into effect February 18. The staff reduction that was approved at last month?s meeting involved two positions that were eliminated strictly because of budget necessities. However, the matter of who gets bumped or who has the seniority to bump is the issue.

All three employees, Betty Lewandowski, Mary Ann Zakshesky, and Rita Donajkowski were present to ask questions of the board,. Lewandowski has asked to substitute for those two positions. Zakshesky and Donajkowski both have the required certification to work in the kitchen positions.

?WE ELIMINATED two positions ? not two people,? said board member Ken Pawelek. ?Now it has to go according to seniority.? Board member Patricia Soik added, ?It should according to classification of jobs, such as cooks in the cooking department, bus drivers in the bus department.? Board president Ken Wozniak said, reading from a contract document, ?Seniority shall be defined as the length of continuous service within a district excluding approved leaves of absence. Accumulation of seniority shall begin from the bargaining unit?s member?s first working day within their classification.?

?See now, that?s classification ? we?re the part working in the kitchen,? Donajkowski said.

?At this point for subst

ituting we?re talking total seniority within the school district,? Wozniak said. ?We can?t be talking subclassification ? I don?t care if you?re a custodian, a bus driver or a cook, you?ve still got ?X? number of years seniority in the school district.? ?I talked to two other unions and they said, ?it?s classification? ? like cooks have their own seniority,? Zakshesky said.

After going around several times with comments from all concerned, Wozniak made the decision that the matter would be looked into by the board. Also, a legal opinion from the districts? attorney was to be sought before the Wednesday deadline.

?We?ll ask our attorney?s advice to make sure we get the right person ? this is strictly a contractual matter and must be done according to the contract,? Wozniak said.