Christopher J. Marczak
Note: This story was last updated at 7:28 p.m. Feb. 24.
Teaching assistants reacted with concern and indignation last week to a proposal to have a Michigan-based company provide substitute teachers, teaching assistants, and paraprofessionals to Oak Ridge Schools.
Chris Marczak, Oak Ridge Schools assistant superintendent, said the proposal to hire Professional Educational Services LLC, or PESG, would allow current employees to keep their jobs, save money, and help the school system comply with the reporting requirements of the federal Affordable Care Act. Marczak said there would be a negligible impact on TAs.
“The only thing that’s going to change is the name of your employer,†he said during a 2.5-hour meeting with teaching assistants and others on Thursday.
But teaching assistants are concerned about their future employment and benefits, including health insurance and retirement. Some said they hadn’t received adequate notice of the proposed change and aren’t being treated with the respect they deserve after years of working for Oak Ridge Schools. Marczak said school administrators, including the human resources department, took notes during the meeting and will respond to the staff’s concerns.
Marczak said the proposal had been previously discussed at the January school board meeting and is still subject to the board’s approval. The Oak Ridge Board of Education is scheduled to discuss the contract with PESG during a meeting at 6 p.m. Monday.
Marczak said the school system now has a budget shortfall of about $2 million, and administrators have a duty to be fiscally responsible. Errors made in tracking and monitoring the working hours of substitute staff members could cost as much as $1.2 million in fines under the Affordable Care Act, he said. Under the proposal to be considered by the school board on Monday, PESG would assume ACA responsibility for the employees, which officials said would reduce or eliminate the school system’s liability.
The proposal said that developing an internal solution could cost $117,971, while PESG, which also has an office in Nashville, could provide the service for $36,065. The estimated cost savings range from $214,723 to $380,792, although TAs questioned the amount of the expected savings.
The proposal said Oak Ridge Schools have successfully outsourced two other non-core operational functions: food service and transportation. Benefits have included fiscal and operational efficiencies, costs savings from employer-related benefits, and cost avoidance from general liability, worker’s compensation, and unemployment, the proposal said.
Marczak said there are 71 TAs system-wide, including 31 part-time employees. The proposal to work with PESG could take effect next year if approved by the school board.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
See the PESG proposal here:Â PESG Proposal.
The Oak Ridge Board of Education meets at the School Administration Building at 304 New York Ave.
Sam Hopwood says
Let’s see if I have this right. Marczak states that the school system is looking at a $2M shortfall and administrators have to be fiscally responsible. Perhaps it is the school board that needs to be fiscally responsible. They recently brought in a new Super at $42K more than the previous one, who created a new $100K administrative position and the board just completed an amazing theft of their share of the high school mortgage and the school system is STILL looking at a $2M shortfall?? What am I missing here?? Probably money, ya think?? 🙂
Sorry John, the devil made me post this. I will try to do better….
Steve Dittner says
The TA’s at the Oak Ridge City Schools work their butts off for about 1/3 the pay of the teachers and they have the same interaction with the students. The TA’s have been marginalized for years, with their numbers being cut and their responsibilities being increased. The TA’s losing (or in reality just getting a second rate plan) their health and retirement benefits will be where the school system saves the money by forcing the TA’s to pay more for less coverage. And the outsourcing company will be run for a profit? Guess who loses? Too much overhead and not enough focus on teaching is going to ruin public education in America..
Trina Baughn says
According to the schools 2014 budget, they employee 39.5 custodians, 14 maintenance workers and 43 secretaries for all 8 schools. Perhaps some of these non-classroom positions could be outsourced instead of the TA’s who serve directly in the classrooms?
http://www.ortn.edu/Download.asp?L=2&LMID=532549&PN=DocumentUploads&DivisionID=4673&DepartmentID=12838&SubDepartmentID=&SubP=&Act=Download&T=1&I=268492
J Smith says
Actually some of us were hoping to outsource you. Im sure the salary you make would better be spent on those school staff you are so quick to send packing.
Linda Wells Mabry says
Want to save money? Skim the fat from the top. Like a lot of other companies, administration is top heavy, with over the top salarys
WK Hyatt says
I am with the TAs, the “when in doubt, contract it out” philosophy has not worked well in places I have worked, although it continues because it creates the illusion of savings. In the long run, it does not, because of higher turnover, rework, and loss of morale, leading to poorer results. These people have served well over the years, and this is a wrong headed decision.
Raymond Charles Kircher says
As a business owner, there are a few things wrong with this proposal. The letterhead from the company as the link above brings up doesn’t say “Professional Educational Services Group LLC”. It says PESG Educational Services Group”. Looking up the trademark registration, the owner of this company proposal doesn’t own the trademark “Professional Educational Services Group”. Who is the School Board doing business with? Going by the names on the proposal, they are the owners of “PESG of Tennessee LLC”, as listed with the TN Secretary of State. Their name filing with the TN Secretary of State “Professional Educational Services Group LLC” has been revoked. After seeing their service in Lebanon Special School District, I found that Kim Woodson is running this business out of her home, and they do not have the High Schools in Wilson County, TN. They are only K-8. Does PESG of Tennessee have the resources to handle our school district? Further review, I found PESG of Tennessee doesn’t have a business tax license registered in Wilson County. Makes me wonder how Wilson County feels about a business being operated there getting by without paying that tax, and the Personal Property Tax? Furthermore, does she interview prospected employees at her home, or are they to go to Nashville, 402 BNA Drive Suite 202 where currently Sleep Access LLC is doing business. How does two companies sharing one office space work efficiently enough to keep in mind the quality of clients for children, much more the security of the same? After reading the proposal, there is a very large error in the description or example used to determine a full-time employee. It seems that others as well as PESG of Tennessee keep using an example that is not fully truthful. Under ACA per the IRS, I can work an employee 40 hours a week for three weeks and 9 hours the fourth week and still keep the description as that employee being part-time. The IRS under ACA rules does not see an employee working more than 30 hours a week as full time, or part-time. The ACA by the IRS determines monthly, not weekly. Current rules for determining full-time employees are done two ways: Monthly. working 129 hours or less is part time or look back period for seasonal employees and employers who work their staff temporarily. Where are they getting their information? This is the problem when people let others think for their self. Besides the obvious red flags this proposal is throwing up, temp services were not and are not designed to be permanent employment, but entry level only. And working in other states with employment agencies trying to keep long leases applicants, many states have changed their laws on employment agencies by putting a sales tax on the full amount of the lease. Being that the ACA doesn’t see Employment Agencies as an employer and are exempt from ACA rules, I don’t believe OR School District can shrug their responsibility of working an employee and then tell the IRS the PESG of Tennessee worked them to long; fine them. It doesn’t work that way. PESG of Tennessee is exempt since they are not the employer, OR School District is. We can do better than this. Dr. Marczak was hired for his technology ability in educational systems. It is time he showed it.
parker says
Very good comments. Thanks for taking the time to spell all of this out. PESG does not seem to meet the high standards that we hold our own students to.
Raymond Charles Kircher says
parker, you are welcome. If this is the same parker that was at the board meeting, you came with some heavy artillery. Thank you for that, but unfortunately, the board isn’t there to deal in dirt. Your evidence of PESG of Tennessee LLC needs to be presented under the fact that hiring an employment agency doesn’t protect a business from liability. I know this to be true and worked over the very experience Mr. Borcher’s is deciding for OR Schools. He can parade all through Oak Ridge stating the schools won’t be responsible for working an employee to the 130 hour mark; The IRS states differently, and so will the judges if Mr. Borcher’s decides to sue PESG of Tennessee LLC. Through my experience, employment agencies are not employers and are not held accountable as an employer. One experience I had, and there were many from employment agencies, they were sending in people who only spoke Spanish or very limited English. That didn’t work for a Real Estate firm that was preparing for the opening of a 104 home gated golf course community. The employment agency told the builder I was working for at the time, “Sorry”. My point is that even if you hire PESG of Tennessee LLC, you still need staff in your business to watch over them. That was expensive, but temporary.