With stimulus money, many laid-off teachers may be recalled

By Dave Stafford, Herald Bulletin Staff Writer

July 02, 2009 05:38 pm

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ANDERSON — Many of the three-dozen laid-off Anderson teachers could be back in school this fall, as the schools fill a nearly equal number of positions created by federal stimulus money.
“Very few so far have been called back, but most of them will be called back,” Anderson Community Schools Personnel Director Beth Clark said Thursday. ACS has posted 44 open positions, including 33 created by the system’s receipt of more than $5 million in federal stimulus funding.
That stimulus funding will run out in two years, and at least 10 of the positions created with those funds are guaranteed for just one year.
At the start of the school year, the number of certified staff at ACS will be close to last year’s level of about 800.
“That gives a false perception of where we really are,” said Business Manager Kevin Brown. “The stimulus dollars do not affect our shortfall. ... When the stimulus dollars go away, the positions go away.”
For more on this story, go to www.theheraldbulletin.com and Friday's newspaper.