Teachers affected by enrollment shifts in Roaring Fork Schools next year will be first in line to at least interview and be considered for the remaining openings at the new Riverview School outside Glenwood Springs.
But the school district will not limit the hiring process to internal applicants only, despite pleas by dozens of teachers and parents who spoke before the Roaring Fork District school board at a meeting Wednesday night in Basalt.
“We need some priority and surety for our teachers who are being displaced by this,” board member Matt Hamilton said of the 24 teachers who will learn by next week whether they will either be displaced, in the case of longer-term teachers, or notified that their contracts are not being renewed next year in the case of teachers who are still within their three-year probationary period with the district.
Under state law, teachers with more than three years in the district who are displaced by enrollment changes or other reasons must be kept on in some capacity for another year, while probationary teachers can be let go without cause.
The loss of teaching positions at Sopris Elementary School and Glenwood Springs Middle School for the 2017-18 school year are due to intended enrollment shifts to the new school, which will serve students from preschool/kindergarten through eighth grade in the area immediately south of Glenwood Springs. The $34 million Riverview School was part of the $122 million bond package approved by district voters in 2015. The school will have 30 teaching positions. So far 10 positions have been filled, with half going to applicants from outside the district.
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