BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. (AP) - The school superintendent for Vermont’s Windham Northeast Supervisory Union said he has terminated 39 out of 84 teaching assistants known as paraprofessionals for the 2020-2021 school year.
The staff cuts are in response to the financial shortfalls the state is expecting from the coronavirus outbreak and the high ratio of paraprofessionals to students, the Brattleboro Reformer reported.
The supervisory union is made up schools in Bellows Falls, Grafton, Saxtons River and Westminster.
“I am extremely saddened to announce that due to the COVID-19 pandemic we are facing and the uncertainty of the stability of our economy, on Wednesday, Windham Northeast Supervisory Union released 36 para-educators from their jobs starting on June 30, 2020,” Superintendent Christopher Pratt wrote in a written statement. He said it has been one of the hardest decisions he has had to make in his 26 years in education and thanked the employees for all they have done for the school, students and community.
Pratt also announced 11 school bus drivers have been furloughed and will be called back once school is in normal session.
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