Carlisle Area School District has attempted to lower costs by outsourcing a variety of positions; substitutes and newer classroom aides, for example, work for Mission One, an outsourcing company.
“The savings come by reduction of those costs [healthcare and retirement],” said Shawn Farr, CASD director of finance. “Employees go out to those companies and are offered a medical coverage that is not as full-covered as ours, so they may pay more.”
Farr added, “Five years ago we contracted out food service operations to Chartwells, we then looked at custodians. [Three years ago, we] ended up contracting out evening custodial staff in the evening, where the bulk of the cleaning that happens […] Then we started using a placement service for substitute teachers.”
Farr said that more recently, the district has begun looking at cost-cutting measures regarding instructional aides.
“In 2017, we began attrition with our aides, which means that when an aide leaves, we don’t hire a replacement; we contract them out with the service,” said Farr. “What was proposed for 2019-20 was taking the remaining employees and transitioning those employees to a service.”
In response to this proposal, there have been many emotional statements made by school aides and parents of students that have worked with the aides, asking the school board to vote against the motion to outsource their positions, reasons being the lack of consistency with outsourced aides, the impact of aides on students, and the lower benefits they would receive with Mission One.
“The biggest negative that I see for the aides is the loss of health insurance benefits for their families,” said Tori Smarr, a parent of a child in the life skills program at CHS and a substitute at CASD. “These ladies are not paid a high hourly wage; however, most of them feel that the medical benefits make up for the low wage. This allows them to stay in a job they love with children instead of seeking a higher paying job elsewhere.”
Smarr is especially concerned for the aides in the special education department, as she fears that the quality of care in the department might go down.
“I am very concerned about the possible loss of our qualified and well-trained aides in our special education department,” said Smarr. “Our current special education aides at the high school also put in unpaid time each day by coming in early to make sure students can get into the building and to their classroom as well as staying after school to make sure that every child is put on the correct bus. The school day runs 7:30-2:30 for them but they usually come in from 7:15-3:00. I don’t feel that outsourcing inspires that kind of loyalty to the district.”
