By AARON MUELLER
Niles Daily Star

When Brandywine Community Schools Superintendent John Jarpe laid off 17 teachers last month, he said he wanted to later bring back as many as possible.

It seems like he might get his wish. Jarpe said Wednesday he might recall three or four teachers by Monday. He did not rule out bringing back even more in the coming weeks.
The 17 pink slips were issued in an effort to correct a $1.4 million budget deficit going into next year. The layoffs would save the district $950,000.

“At the time we laid off 17 teachers, we were still in contract negotiations. We weren’t sure about the middle school and high school schedule and we didn’t know about the certifications of different people,” he said.

Now that the teachers have a contract and the administration has reexamined the budget, “it looks like we estimated high,” Jarpe said.

Jarpe said he purposely cautiously overestimated the number of layoffs to avoid having to hand out even more pink slips closer to the beginning of next school year.

While it is good news, Jarpe isn’t overly excited.

“It’s encouraging. It’s a better feeling to recall teachers than to lay more off,” he said. “But in Michigan we in no means are out of the woods yet.”

Jarpe also hopes the passage of the recent state teacher retirement incentive plan combined with Brandywine’s own voluntary severance package will encourage some eligible teachers to retire. That would allow Jarpe to recall even more of those who have been laid off.

The names of the teachers who are being recalled are expected to be announced at next week’s board meeting, taking place Monday at Brandywine Middle/Senior High School at 7 p.m.