Superintendent stands up for teachers
Updated: December 15, 2012
Victor White works for the Prairieview-Ogden District. Teachers there agreed to take lesser pay. He gave up his insurance benefits to help.
This school district has lost about $280,000 in state funding.
Some teachers lost their raises and Victor White refused to stand by and watch. without doing something to help.
"What are we working on in here today?" White said to a first grade classroom.
Victor White has been the superintendent of Prairieview-Ogden for the past 17 years.
In that time, he says his staff have become family.
"Everybody is giving some. That's what you do in a small school, you wear multiple hats and you work as a family," White said.
Teachers here were supposed to get a three percent raise for the last year of their contract.
Now some will have to take zero. something white isn't taking lightly.
"I will have to pick up the life insurance somewhere else," White said.
White is giving up more than $1,700 worth of benefits.
But because the district has lost so much in state aid. soon, White will have to fire some of his close friends.
"Now you have to make that hard decision of who's going to be let go or what program is going to be cut, it's not fun for anybody," White said.
He didn't want his teachers to have to go through this alone.
"They're here early, stay late. Very dedicated staff," White said.
So now he's doing what he has to do in an effort to keep his teachers afloat.
"It's just a big family all trying to do what's best for the kids. Everybody's giving something," White said.
White will have to let go three teachers. He says he'll probably have to do that by March.







