There's a lot of talk these days, and a lot of evidence, of school districts getting raked by layoffs, and by forced attrition—basically not filling positions when teachers and others leave, or retire.
In a story this week, I take a look at one of the oft-overlooked consequences of that district downsizing: schools having move employees from one job to the next, again and again, to cover for lost workers and make up for their duties.
My story focuses on a couple districts in Texas: a big one, Northside ISD in San Antonio; and a tiny one, Perrin-Whitt, in the northern part of the state. Both have been forced to chop spending because of state budget cuts, and both have been forced to move a lot of people around to make up ground—while also trying to keep teachers and others in their areas of expertise and certification.
A superintendent I talked to from a Pennsylvania district recently called this people-moving process "checkerboarding." If you're working in a district that's gone through something similar, what kinds of job-shuffling have budget cuts wrought?