CAMP LEJEUNE, NC. – Camp Lejeune Schools are facing more crowded classrooms and losing their elementary school foreign language program as the Department of Defense Education Activity announced several changes coming to the next school year.

• 20 positions will be eliminated at 26 schools in the Mid-Atlantic District, affecting four to five positions at Camp Lejeune
• Positions are based on enrollment numbers, and they will work to place impacted teachers into other available positions if they are qualified.
• Pupil to teacher ratio is also increasing from 16 to 18 students per teacher, to about 24 to one in secondary schools.

Camp Lejeune Community Superintendent Todd Curkendall confirmed 20 positions will be eliminated at 26 schools in the Mid-Atlantic District, affecting four to five positions at Camp Lejeune, both high school and middle schools.

Curkendall says this is not uncommon, as positions are based on enrollment numbers, and they will work to place impacted teachers into other available positions if they are qualified. He says there are several vacancies as teachers permanently change station (PCS) and retire.

"So they can transition into a great level job, or counselor, if they have counseling certification, or information special certification. There's a lot they can do with their teaching degree,” said Curkendall.

Curkendall also says pupil to teacher ratio is also increasing from 16 to 18 students per teacher, to about 24 to one in secondary schools. He says which teachers, classrooms, subject matters will change is to be determined.

One change impacting 2.5 additional full time employee positions is the elimination of the Foreign Language Program at both Johnson Primary School and Bitz Intermediate School, a pilot program allowing K through second graders to learn Spanish early in their education.

The following is a letter sent to DoD-EA staff from Director Thomas Brady:

"Dear DoDEA Employees,

As many of you are aware, there has been a great deal of discussion about potential cuts to the DoDEA budget.  Fortunately, at this time, it appears that an anticipated cut to the FY 2020 budget - which would have had significant impacts on our resources - will not happen.

As we look to the future and how we can continue to best serve our military-connected student population, it is important that we make investments in our organization to sustain and improve critical infrastructure and education programs that directly support student achievement.  College and Career Ready curriculum and the DoDEA Comprehensive Assessment System are two examples of programs that are essential to continue improving student achievement and remain among state-level leaders in education.

After examining staffing and class sizes across DoDEA, there are opportunities to gain efficiencies and better align staffing through a minimal increase to class sizes at the secondary grade level.  At current levels, there are instances of high school classes with 10 or fewer students.  Appropriate staffing adjustments will result in class sizes that are still below the national average and make resources available for areas like improving technology in our schools.

These adjustments, combined with planned school closures in the Seoul community and discontinuation of the pilot Foreign Language in the Elementary School (FLES) program, will result in a number of excess employees at the end of the current school year, as we have seen in past years.   

As always, we will use a variety of workforce shaping tools to manage and identify vacancies that excessed employees can fill, including Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA), Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments (VSIP) and Early Notice Incentives (ENI).  Our human resources team is preparing these announcements for both educators and specified support personnel.

It is vitally important we use our resources to the fullest, always with an eye on taking care of our employees while achieving our vision:  Excellence in education for every student, every day, everywhere.  Thank you for what you do, every day, to support our military-connected students and their families."