Following Furloughs, Uncertainty Lingers for Moon Support Staff

Debbie Navickas said it feels something like paranoia. 

When the 21-year employee was first furloughed, and then later recalled to her position, in 2011, she worried that temporary layoffs might become the norm for the remainder of her tenure with the district. 

And now, as the first weeks of the newest school year pass, she grapples with an hours' reduction that has truncated her schedule from 260 work days a year to 200. 

She worries that the more than 20-percent cut will hurt not only her finances but also her students. 

"You just don't know what's going to happen next," she said. "There's no feeling of effort being appreciated, and you're afraid that no matter how good of a job you do, you could be subjected to being cut." 

Navickas' position, which entails working alongside special needs students to help them transition into post-high school life, is one of more than 40 in the district that have undergone a  this school year. 

The cuts have dampened moral amongst those who felt a job in education was a path to career security, Navickas said. 

"You know, you hear a lot of people say that they used to like coming to work because it was a happy place, and you have these beautiful new buildings," she said. "But then they'll say that now they just plod along through their day because they don't know what's going to happen next." 

The personnel revisions, approved by the school board in June, will save the district some $425,000, according to its own figures.

District officials have said the cutbacks are an effort to bolster the district's financial health in the coming years, perhaps staving off tax increases. Personnel and legacy costs remain the its most costly expense. 

But for Navickas and other support staff members returning to the classroom, feelings of uncertainty hang in the months following the cuts. 

She said just three years before her retirement, she'll likely sell her home to adapt to her pay cut. 

"I wasn't living the good life—I was living within my means and that was fine," she said. "I was a 20-plus year employee still making less than a first-year teacher. I have five grandchildren, and I've already told my children that Christmas is going to be extremely lean this year." 

Butch Santicola, spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Education Association, said the union is mulling its next move in the impasse.

In July, he said the union was preparing to file unfair labor charges before the Pennsylvania Labor Relations committee. 

But in the weeks before , union members said they hoped negotiating with board members would prove more fruitful than filing a grievance. 

Santicola said union members will again be present at the board's Sept. 17 meeting.

"We are going to take a look at what we need to do next," Santicola said. 

Support staffers, which include 160 personnel in the district, decried the cuts in a statement released earlier this week, claiming reductions have left cafeterias understaffed and nurses' offices unsupervised for periods of time during the day. 

"The cuts are hurting the students and our community without reason," said local union vice president Susan White in the statement. White has been present for each of the board's meetings in the months since furloughs were announced. 

Navickas said her hours reduction will leave her with less time to work with students.

"It's not just frustrating, it's heartbreaking," she said. "I know that I can do much more for them than I'm going to be given the opportunity to do."