Disappearing Students Syndrome (DSS): A phrase created by me to describe a phenomenon taking place across the United States, affecting both privately and publicly funded schools, from Kindergarten all the way through University levels.
Incomplete list of publicly announced education layoffs & school shutdowns from January to March 2015:
Alabama: Jefferson County Board of Education will beginning laying off 160 employees in July!
Alaska: The University of Alaska Southeast shutdown their bookstore, due to crashing revenues.
Arizona: Dysart Unified School District announced they will kill off 147 jobs over the next three years! Administrators added that the 147 job cuts are just the first round of cuts! Back in November tax burdened voters rejected a school levy that would have jacked up their taxes even more. What gets me is why, year after year, school districts need more and more tax creating levies and bonds to be passed? Where is all that money going, especially the lottery money for those school systems that get money from lotteries as well as taxes?!
California: The Los Angeles School District approved the elimination of 609 teaching jobs! The LASD is short $158-million USD for the upcoming school year. Castaic Union School District has approved the elimination of at least 43 jobs. Those still employed will be forced to take unpaid days off (furlough). It’s blamed on what I call DSS, district administrators say the school system has lost more than 1-thousand students over the past ten years! In Los Angeles, is Obama Care behind the layoff of 15 employees at the Bienvenidos Children Center? The WARN only says the layoffs will take place in April. Denair Unified School District warned it must eliminate at least 16 teachers, shutdown classes and are even offering a bonus to anybody who’ll take early retirement. Administrators blame ongoing DSS. The Acalanes Union High School District has decided to end its 70 years old adult education program, killing eight full time jobs. In San Francisco, Apollo Education issued two WARNs saying 38 people will be laid off between June and August.
Connecticut: In Berlin, The Learning Experience preschool shutdown with ten days notice. The operators blamed “several circumstances beyond our control”. The Milford Board of Education is planning to layoff 18 teachers for the 2015-16 school year, “primarily stemming from continued enrollment decline”. The University of Connecticut admitted they laid off employees, but refused to say how many. Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system approved a 4.8% increase in tuition. In Meridian, God refuses to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ Saint Stanislaus School. God refuses to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ Saint John Paul II School. Christian administrators officially blame lack of money, but one parent thinks it’s a conspiracy: “I don’t think the entire truth is here because it’s NOT about money!”– Ewald Kuchciak, who pointed out that Christian students are being forced into a smaller school building
Florida: The state Department of Education has ‘failed’ Osceola County military prep school Acclaim Academy, twice, and as a result it shutdown. In Orlando, DeVry University issued a layoff WARN saying 50 employees will be unemployed in May.
Idaho: In Kellogg, the Sunnyside Elementary school shutdown due to massive population exodus which created what I call DSS: “Since 1970, we’ve had a 66% decrease in our enrollment!”-Art Krulitz, Kellogg School District
Illinois: Warsaw Community School District laid off 11 employees and eliminated vacant jobs, and administrators are now pushing to jack up local property taxes. Elgin School District U-46 announced they will eliminate 463 jobs, due to DSS! The 42 years old Aurora Child Development Center shutting down due to state funding problems. Administrators say the great state of Illinois is at least three months behind on their Child Care Assistance Program payments! In Harvey, after 23 years Ingalls Childcare Center shutdown. Administrators blamed the bad economy for not being able to pay their employees! The Adler Planetarium laid off 15 people, blaming lack of public attendance: “We’re trying to make it so that our annual revenues match our expenses. For at least the last few years, we were using money either from our endowment or a fundraising campaign to sustain us.”-Marc Lapides
Louisiana: The Pelican State’s Secretary of State Tom Schedler said he is laying off 24 museum employees and reducing operating hours for state run museums in April. A special election is being postponed until October. It’s part of a plan to cut state spending by $61-million. Politicians are blaming crashing tax revenues from the petroleum industry caused by ‘low’ oil prices. The Gov’na also warned of massive layoffs for the university-higher education system, saying there’s a $1.6-billion shortfall! Tulane University warned it must consider layoffs due to being constantly $20-million in the hole, year after year.
Massachusetts: Facing less funding, due to DSS, Marshfield will eliminate seven elementary school jobs for the next school year. In Springfield, private Curtis Blake School shutdown with short notice to parents. Administrators blame what I call DSS, as usual parents were shocked by the bad economic news: “This is a big huge blow, we weren’t expecting this at all!”-Melissa Sullivan
Michigan: In Lakewood, the Clarksville and Sunfield elementary schools are being shutdown, the school district is short $1-million! The last two libraries of the Wayne County Library system threatened with shutdown. The communities of Ecorse and Taylor say they will follow the other former library system members and go independent, in order to save money. Baraga Area School District warned that Pelkie Elementary School could shutdown due to massive DSS: “The primary problem is shared actually across the district. We have been experiencing declining enrollments in a very similar pattern that the State of Michigan has, but it really hit hard about two years ago.”-Jennifer Lynn, superintendent
Minnesota: Minneapolis Public Schools laid off 160 people, with only one weeks notice! Administrators implied most of the jobs were administrative and had no direct impact on education, they claim the money saved will now be focused on education.
New Jersey: In Manville, God refuses to stop the Diocese of Metuchen from shutting down ‘his’ Christ the King School. It’s the 11th ‘christian’ school to be shutdown by the Diocese of Metuchen, since 2009. The Trenton School District says it must eliminate 226 jobs, and will shutdown schools due to a $19-million shortfall! But wait there’s more, previous announcements said a total of 350 jobs could be lost, once the state government puts out its final funding numbers for the 2015-16 school year! (and those layoffs are for just one of many school districts!) Kean University announced it will layoff 54 janitors and grounds keepers. The jobs will be contracted out. University administrators claim they’re trying to cut $3.4-million per year, yet this didn’t stop them from spending $219-thousand on a conference table made in China! The Paterson Board of Education has decided it will not jack up taxes on the impoverished taxpayers, but it means 363 school employees will become jobless next school year!
New York: God refuses to stop his 156 years old Saint Patrick School in Tiago County from shutting down. Administrators say enrollment has crashed & burned, they were able to get only 58 students for the year. In West Nyack, Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge (aka Cambridge University Press) issued a WARN saying they will shutdown in June, 42 jobs lost. In Brooklyn, upscale The Guild for Exceptional Children preschool shutdown, 81 jobs affected. Corning Community College shutdown its 30 years old child care center. In Brooklyn, Milestone School for Child Development issued a WARN saying they will shutdown, 73 jobs lost in June. Grandpa’s Bus Service issued a massive shutdown WARN saying they lost their state Department of Education contract, more than 5-hundred jobs threatened!
Ohio: In Mentor, school administrators announced that Rice Elementary School will shutdown at the end of the school year. The school now boasts the lowest enrollment in the district. Owens Community College eliminated 50 occupied and vacant positions, as well as cut wages and salaries. They also proposed new taxes, blaming increased employment costs caused mainly by higher insurance and retirement rates mandated by Obama Care! In Mansfield, School Specialty revealed it had laid off an undisclosed number of employees last week, this after they claimed to be investing $7-million into a new school supply warehouse.
Pennsylvania: God refuses to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in Roseto, and ‘his’ Pius X Junior/Senior High School in Bangor. Pittsburgh based Education Management shutdown all its Art Institutes across the U.S., killing at least 225 jobs! Education Management is in big trouble with the federal Department of Education for basically bribing students and violating other federal education laws. In Oakmont, after 88 years (surviving the Great deflationary Depression and numerous recessions) God refused to stop the Saint Irenaeus Catholic Elementary School from shutting down. Administrators say enrollment has dwindled to only 44 students.
Tennessee: After 70 years the Christian God refuses to stop the shutdown of Tennessee Temple University. Local news reports say some student athletes were told about the shutdown, and were also told not to tell anybody about it.
Texas: God refuses to stop ‘his’ Southern Methodist University from laying off 100 people! The Christian school will also eliminate 50 vacant jobs. Typical of ‘christians’ the administrators are living in denial, regarding their financial status, calling efforts to cut $35-million from their budget “addressing our slight structural budget deficit”. In Abilene, McMurry University announced it will layoff 12 people in May, blaming DSS.
Vermont: Lyndon State College laid off five employees, blaming a huge decline in enrollment.
Wisconsin: In Green Bay, Excel Driving School shutdown without notice. Somehow the state DMV heard of the shutdown before anybody else. The owner of the driving school said he could no longer juggle his personal life with his business. About 250 paid up students looking for answers and refunds. University of Wisconsin Madison warned of layoffs: “I just want to say how sorry I am. Because some of the people in this room are going to be impacted by cuts. I know how hard you work for this university and this state… we will get through this.”-Rebecca Blank, Chancellor, apologizing for the actions of Right to Work you over gov’na Scott Walker who wants to cut higher education funding by $300-million over the next two years!
Wyoming: God refuses to stop Saint James of the Valley School from shutting down. Church administrators blame it on what some Christians call The Rapture, or what I call DSS.
WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification
Into the New Dark Ages as students ‘disappear’ and Obamacare ‘kills’