The Hancock County Board of Education heard from Melanie Donofe, past president of the Hancock County Education Association, and retired lifetime member of Education West Virginia, at Monday’s meeting. Donofe spoke on behalf of the organization’s members. One-third of Hancock County school’s workforce has been reduced and Donofe expressed concern over the manner in which the reduction-in-force had been conducted.
“Let me start by saying this clearly: we understand the situation. Hancock County Schools is facing a severe financial crisis. Reductions -in- force and transfers are not avoidable,” said Donofe. “But how that is handled – that is a choice. And, that choice carries responsibility.”
“Right now employees feel like a bad situation has been made worse,” she said. “The clearest example is how the (RIF) hearings have been held.”
Donofe said service personnel hearings were cancelled at 6 p.m., the day before they were scheduled due to errors in their (RIF) letters. Professional employees had already gone through a day of hearings only to be told it had to be done again the final 2 days at the end of the week.
“When hearings are rushed like this, it stops feeling like a fair process……and feels like the outcomes are already decided,” she said. “When you are laying off nearly a third of your workforce, there is no room for avoidable mistakes.”
Donofe said the mistakes being made were not small missteps. “they are moments that impacts people’s lives, their stability and their trust. She also said the mistakes were not isolated.”
Donofe said the organization’s offer to help – to support a process that was accurate, secure and fair was declined.
“And when help is offered and not taken, the responsibility for what follows matters. Because while the financial crisis may not be within our control, the way people are treated absolutely is.”
“Education West Virginia’s offer to work in partnership with the county administration and the WVDE staff to put Hancock County back on track still stands.,” she said.”We want to be a partner in repairing the loss of confidence that this tortured process has created – but we can only be a partner if we are part of the decision-making process.”
