Last chance for two SV teachers to stay employed

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SPRING VALLEY--Two Spring Valley teachers will fight for their careers Monday night.

Ann Hill and Patti Wolf will give presentations to the school board on why their positions should not be eliminated. The board will then deliberate and make their final decisions the same night.

Hill, the district’s middle/high school family and consumer education instructor, was blindsided when she was given the preliminary layoff notice.

“I was devastated, shocked and saddened,” the 22-year veteran said. “It’s a small miracle I could be reinstated, but it’s doubtful.”

Hill was given notice last month.

“You always knew technical education programs could be on the bubble, but I had no clue this was being considered,” she said. “Where are 105 kids (that Hill has this year) going to go next year?”

She said the only comfort out of this decision is the move was made for budgetary reasons, not personal.

“I can’t think of any other area school that is going to eliminate their home ec program,” she said.

To highlight why she believes the program shouldn’t be abolished during her 30-minute speech, Hill said she will likely use the following story as an example: a few years ago, a middle-school-aged girl asked Hill if she had to take the egg out of the shell before she put it in the mixer.

“Where are kids going to learn how to cook? From technology?” she said.

Whatever happens Monday, Hill has no regrets about her time in Spring Valley.

“I love Spring Valley,” she said. “The kids have been awesome.”

Wolf, an elementary special education instructor, has been with Spring Valley since 1990, was less open than Hill about her plans, only to say “there’s been quite a bit of support” for her.

Superintendent David Wellington said Wolf and Hill’s fate will be the only topic on the agenda. He also said the district will comment on this issue after Monday.

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