NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) -
Sumner County schools are still considering teacher layoffs because of a budget shortfall; yet as the budget process was getting under way in April, the school system transferred seven experienced teachers out of their classrooms into planning positions.
Every high school now has what's called a "Focus Educator," someone who's researching what sort of specialty program their school might offer as a school-within-a-school. For example, one high school might offer a health focus, while another might offer an IT focus.
"What the focus educators are, they are people that will be working on designing those programs and figuring out what is necessary to make that happen," said Jeremy Johnson, a spokesperson for the school system.
"The school board decided that that is something that's important and that should be in the budget," he said.
About half of those focus educators teach part-time, Johnson said.
According to school payroll records, the focus educators earn between $49,000 to $57,000 a year.
Sumner County Commissioner Jim Vaughn called the positions a luxury the county can't afford.
"I don't understand the concept of moving people, teachers, out of the classroom, in a planning phase, at the same time you're talking about laying off out of the classroom," Vaughn said.
Johnson said the focus educator positions are paid with money that was saved when a night class program was terminated.
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