CMS Discusses Process Of Rehiring Teachers

For the first summer since 1969, Donald Littlejohn isn't spending his August getting ready to teach at Cochrane Middle School in the fall.

For decades, Littlejohn was a physical education and health teacher at the school. The gym is even named after him.

A few months ago, Littlejohn was laid off -- one of more than 650 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools teachers who were let go.

“I think they need to put forth an effort to keep some veteran teachers in place, some experienced,” he said.

In the last week, CMS learned it'll get more money from the state than it expected, and now district leaders are planning on rehiring some teachers.

Officials still haven’t said how many or who.

This weekend and most of Monday, the superintendent and his finance staff worked on ironing out the details of who they'll bring back.

“People are anxious whether or not everybody is going be rehired or if it’s just going to be certain job categories or what,” said Mary McCray of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators.

She hopes the teachers won't have to re-apply for their old jobs.

“As long as the person didn’t have performance issues, I feel like they should just be called back,” she said.

While many teachers are anxious to come back, Littlejohn doesn't plan to return to Cochrane or any other school. He said he's content being retired, but also wishes his 39 years with CMS didn’t end so abruptly.

“It’s pretty hard to say it ended the way I wanted it to end, but they're in transition now,” he said.

Some teachers have taken jobs in school districts in neighboring counties but many are still available.

There will likely be lengthy discussion among CMS officials and the school board during a closed-door meeting Tuesday at 4:30 p.m., but the actual board meeting starts at 6.

Previous Stories: August 7, 2009: CMS To Re-Hire Substantial Number Of Laid-Off Teachers August 7, 2009: Land Swap Could Force New CMS Budget Problems August 6, 2009: Letter From Superintendent Peter Gorman To CMS Employees July 31, 2009: Gorman Talks Difficult Budget Cuts, Future Of CMS July 29, 2009: CMS Cuts Another $15.3M From Budget; More Cuts Possible July 14, 2009: CMS Preparing For Last-Minute State Budget