The non-layoff letters
Some anxious employees will return to North Avenue from spring break this morning, after receiving not one but two letters over the break about the upcoming elimination of their positions. Many of the letters went to employees who will be transferred from the central office to schools if they want to stay employeed; some also went to administrators who will need to reapply for jobs at North Avenue. "While Dr. Alonso does not anticipate layoffs," the first letter says, "the process of re-assigning employees to vacancies will take several weeks."
The first letter, from the district's head of human resources, outlined dates and times for "a series of networking sessions and workshops to assist employees with this transition," recognizing that "the anxiety associated with this transition is difficult."
After the letters went out in the mail, it seems, system officials realized that the first of those workshops was scheduled for April 1, before the school board's scheduled April 8 vote on the budget that will make the changes a reality. So then there was another letter to change the workshop date.
The school system has also set up a "transition hotline" for the displaced employees.
Baltimoresun.com's 
Comments
After the letters went out in the mail, it seems, system officials realized that the first of those workshops was scheduled for April 1, before the school board's scheduled April 8 vote on the budget that will make the changes a reality. So then there was another letter to change the workshop date.
And this is exactly the sort of thing that cracks me up about BCPSS. So little gets done correctly on the first try, and these odd little errors are SO widespread that it takes forever to undo them. And all it would have taken was someone to do a little proofreading.
This error cost BCPSS well over $100 in postage alone. Then there was the cost of paper and envelopes, plus someone's actual time spent re-doing the work. I wonder whose budget the re-do came out of?
Posted by: Claude | March 31, 2008 9:30 PM
Claude, you're absolutely correct! This seems to be SOP for BCPSS. Another recent example is circular #20 which went out just before vacation. It stated that school 424, Thurgood Marshall HIGH school, is slated to close. It sent a lot of people into a panic before it was finally corrected to say that it is actually school 170, Thurgood Marshall MIDDLE school, that's closing. Again, a little proofreading would have been a good idea.
Posted by: avalon | April 1, 2008 5:43 AM