Lowell School Delaying Employee Contracts
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Anonymous
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HoS sent out on 4/1. Anyone know more about why, or what might be "necessary" vs. "nice"?
Dear Colleagues, Before Spring Break, I wrote to you with a commitment to delivering offer letters to you this week. That timeline has been delayed, and I want to be as open as I can in sharing the reasons. It is truer than ever before that our school, our mission, our values, and our students are essential to our country and the world, which is why our goal must be to position Lowell for strength as an institution to we are around for another 60 years. That is why, at last year's State of the School meeting with staff, I shared that the Board and I are working together to strategize about steps we can take over the next five years to position Lowell for the future. The answer lies in taking great care every year to discern what is necessary vs. nice for the year ahead, while at the same time keeping in mind the long-term impact of those decisions. The task of determining what is necessary vs. nice for the coming school year is taking longer than expected, which is causing the delay. I know that receiving your letters a month later than usual, without an articulated reason, must be causing questions for some of you. While I will offer more information at the State of the School meeting on April 15, please know that I regret the anxiety this may be causing and that I am thankful for your continued patience. Many people are working "behind the scenes" to finalize our 2026-2027 school year plans so that we can get your letters to you as soon as possible. In the meantime, if you have questions or concerns you would like to share, please reach out to your division director or supervisor, or to Tammy to schedule a meeting with me. Warmly, Donna PS - I am writing this email to you from jury duty-an important civic duty that came at an unfortunate time—so I won't be available until later in the week at the earliest. Donna S. Lindner (she, her, hers) Head of School |
Anonymous
| Why would anyone on this board know an answer to this question that even the Lowell employees don’t know? |
Anonymous
| If you read between the lines it is obvious. Budget cuts meaning layoffs and/or reduction in compensation/benefits. |
Anonymous
| Also seems like the person who has to make the call on who exactly gets cut is sitting in jury duty for longer than anticipated... also does every school send fresh offer letters to every teacher, every year??? |
Anonymous
+ 1 - HR professional |
Anonymous
Every private school I've worked at does. |
Anonymous
Yep, every year, every employee. It feels like a ritual more than anything, but it is deeply important to many. |
Anonymous
I can imagine! Obviously, I don't work for the school systems, but seems like an undue amount of stress every year... |
Anonymous
My best guess as well. Happened at Edmund Burke last year. Lower enrollment and rising costs = letting go of some teaching and admin staff. |
Anonymous
Anyone at risk of not getting invited back for next year for merit reasons has already been counseled and warned several times; that's how the procedure works. Everyone else knows it's pro forma. My HOS generally says at a staff meeting well before the letters, "Everyone here today will be invited back" so there is no confusion. If a teacher has misbehaved enough not get renewed, they are often pushed out earlier anyway. I agree with those who say this is $$$ oriented for Lowell. Shame they waited so long to figure it out, however. |
Anonymous
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It sounds related to enrollment.
They may be working the wait pool list. Independent schools are not like public schools wrt job security. It is a year by year hire, so there is a new contract every year. In Virginia, if I understand it correctly, the contract doesn’t actually guarantee your job if they can prove they do not need you after the year starts. They have to give you a month notice, and then can boot you to the curb. Good luck. |
Anonymous
| The letter/contracts usually outline your salary, responsibilities, and supervisor as well. They usually try to give inflation raises. Teachers don’t negotiate those individually. |
Anonymous
| As many said above, this is absolutely related to enrollment and budget. They are hoping to issue contracts to everyone but might not be able to. It would be nice if they were transparent about it but in my experience that rarely happens. |
Anonymous
| I think this is probably happening with a lot of schools - fewer kids in the school-age population, job loss in fed/contractor households, and less demand for private schools now that we’re several years out from the pandemic. |
Anonymous
Absolutely, the PPP loans wound up saving several private schools from going under, but now that money has run out. |