Facing a loss of pay and benefits that may add up into the thousands of dollars a year some Wendover, Utah High School teachers are grumbling about some kind of work stoppage.
“Morale is at an all time low,” said one teacher who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “I would not be a bit surprised if there was some kind of a slow down or a sick out soon.”
WHS principal Jason Saari acknowledge that many of the faculty were not happy especially with the Tooele School Districts Decision to sell off district owned apartments in Wendover.
The apartments are rented to teachers, Saari explained at a subsidized rate.
“A one bedroom apartment goes for something like $265 a month and a three bedroom goes for something like $350,” Saari said.
Built about 30 years ago the faculty apartments and their subsidized rents were along with isolation pay one of the major perks for Tooele teachers coming to Wendover. With current rents on the open market starting at around $450 for a one bedroom and $750 for a three bedroom the hit to WHS teachers could be at least $2,000 a year and possibly over $4,000 a year.
In addition to the loss of cheap housing WHS teacher could face a loss of hours as a federal grant runs out this year.
“The grant pays for an extra hour a day,” Saari said. “That adds up to quite a lot in a school year and it very well might not be renewed next year.”
While not unsympathetic to economic hit his teachers may take, Saari explained the Tooele District had no choice.
“All the apartment building need major renovations and maintenance that the district simply cannot no afford at this time.” He explained. “The school board made the decision that they were not in the housing business. Tooele County has still not recovered from the recession or from the closing of the army bases. Tax revenues are down and there has to be cost cutting.”
Many local teachers may however ask why should so many of the cuts come at Wendover’s expense?
There has always existed suspicion in the community that Wendover, Utah is not being treated fairly by the Tooele School District.
Parents, teachers and local businesses have often complained in the past that Wendover is often first in line when sacrifices are made and last in line when expenditures are paid out.
Sometimes this resentment boils over into to full scale angry public protests that more often than not succeed in thwarting district plans the most famous of which was the school split in 1995.
For about a decade before the Elko District in Nevada and the Tooele District shared Wendover schools. Elementary students went to Nevada and high school students went to Utah.
But when Tooele balked at expanding its high school, the Elko School Board walked and built its own high school on its side of the boarder.
The fighting with the Tooele School board did not end with the split however. After the split the Tooele School boards proposal to house all Wendover remaining Utah elementary students in what is the High School was also shouted down in several public meetings and the district opted instead to build the Anna Smith Elementary School.
A few years later a Tooele/Elko school board plan to once again share educational responsibilities for the community was nipped in the bud when fearing for their jobs Utah side teachers shouted down district officials during several public meeting.
Despite the animosity a way to relieve the future economic hit facing WHS teachers today might be found in the resolution of past conflicts particularly the public/private partnership of Anna Smith Elementary.
Without donated land and some generous financial grants from the Smith family then owners of the State Line casino it would have been very difficult if not impossible for the school to have been built as quickly as it was.
While running apartments might prove too expensive for the Tooele District, there are several complexes that seem to be making a profit in town.
“I hadn’t thought of it before but we might bring some things to the table for some discounted rates,” Saari said. “The district could guarantee to rent a block of apartments and perhaps pay for them in advance.”
“We would definitely try and pencil something out,” said local apartment manager Janell Green. “I don’t know if we could match what Tooele charges but could come up with something.”