ENDICOTT — Some teachers in the U-E School District will now have to follow the advice that they have been giving students for years.

They must start the job-search process all over again, which is especially hard for those who have taught for a while.

“I’ve been teaching kids about careers and how to get hired,” said Mrs. Mary Gere-Penna, a Union-Endicott High School teacher who recently was told her position was not being renewed next school year. “Now I’ve got to gather everything I’ve taught and take my own advice.”

Times have gotten tough everywhere, and with the Union-Endicott School District’s budget seeming to lessen year by year, things needed to be cut. This year the district decided to cut employees, including teachers and aids, in addition to cuts in other programs such as athletics, extra-curricular activities, and even going back to half-day kindergarten.

Teachers at Union-Endicott are not completely shocked, but some are still distraught over the news.

“I kind of knew that this was coming,” said Mr. Paul Cartie, a UEHS math teacher and single father of two, who also received news he would be laid off at the end of this school year. “I was obviously upset and worried, and I still am worried.”

“I was devastated after I got the news,” Mrs. Penna said. “Still, I knew that this was a possibility.”

“I was heartbroken,” Ms. Chelsea Ingalls, a U-E art teacher said. “Most teachers look at teaching as more than just a job. It’s hard not to take it personally. I didn’t expect it this year because nothing was said in the budget meetings and we weren’t warned that our jobs were in jeopardy.”

In a recent Press & Sun Bulletin article, U-E Superintendent Dr. Suzanne McLeod cautioned that, “Nothing is finalized,” with this year’s school budget.

The same article states that the next U-E budget workshop is on April 4 in the U-E High School auditorium at 7 p.m. and the board wants feedback from community members on the budget and ‘potential’ cuts.

According to Dr. McLeod’s March 7 budget presentation, a total of 84 positions are proposed to be cut district-wide, leaving teachers and other personnel scrambling to update their resumes and seek opportunities.

“I immediately updated my resume and got my other documents in order, such as my  references, teaching certification and college transcript,” Penna said.

“I’m looking at other art jobs hopefully in or around New York and hopefully in teaching,” Ingalls said.

Other teachers aren’t so sure.

“I have no clue what my next step is,” Cartie said. “I have two girls and I need to think about them.”

Not only do layoffs affect teachers, but layoffs also affect their families.

“I’m a single dad of two girls that I now have to support,” Cartie said. “My girls have no clue what’s going on. It’s really hard to try and explain to them how they will be affected.”

Still, through everything, Mrs. Penna’s family has hope.

“My family is confident that I will find a new job,” said Penna.

And Ms. Ingalls family has been supportive of her as well.

“I’m thankful for having a great family that looks out for me and is keeping an eye out for new job opportunities,” Ingalls said.

There is still a sliver of hope for laid-off teachers. According to Mrs. Penna, in the teachers’ contract there is provision for a preferred-hiring list that could give laid off teachers first preference when jobs open in their former departments.

“I’m on the preferred-hiring list for seven years,” Penna said. “So, if a job in the business department were to open up, I’d have one of the first choices on whether I’d want to come back or not.”

“If we can get more state funding, which would be a miracle,” Ingalls said, “then I have a chance at being re-hired.”

As of Friday, March 30, the Press & Sun Bulletin reported that the Union-Endicott school district would get a 4.36% increase in state aid.

However, Dr. McLeod in that same article said, “the additional aid could help lower the district's tax levy.”

This means that the additional aid would go toward helping local taxes rather than restoring employee positions.

Mr. Cartie was offered a half-day position. But because it’s half-day, everything else gets cut in half as well.

“If I accept the half-day position, I’ll be on the [preferred-hiring] list for seven years,”Cartie said. “My job could go back to full-time, but it’s unlikely.

“If I refuse the half-time, it’s like resigning and my name will be taken off of the list. I’d like to stay here; I planned to retire here.”