By Robert Cadwallader
rcadwallader@star-telegram.com
ARLINGTON -- Relief is on the way for high school teachers who have taken on increased workloads because of staff reductions and lost conference time.
The school board approved $700,000 last week to hire six teaching assistants to make copies and do other clerical duties and 36 substitute teachers to help in classrooms and fill in when teachers or departments need to meet. The new employees would be divided equally among the six high schools.
The administration also recommended $480,000 to replace many of the aging copiers, which break down frequently and waste teachers' time. But the board put off the vote Thursday and asked the staff to come back at the Oct. 20 meeting with more information about copiers and how to deploy them.
"It's a good compromise," said Peter Baron, board president and a Grand Prairie teacher. "And it's not going to cost us a terrible amount of money."
Carole Lemonds, co-president of the local Association of Texas Professional Educators, which represents 725 school district employees, echoed Baron.
"That's great news," said Lemonds, a retired fourth-grade teacher. "It will provide some much-needed relief."
A more permanent fix -- a schedule change that could include daily conference time -- is under study for next year.
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