OXFORD – Twenty-four instructional staff positions could be cut or reduced to part-time if the Oxford school district’s top administrator has his way. The plan, first proposed to the school board by Superintendent Randy Squier in late February, has both school staff members and the Oxford community up in arms.

“The OTA supports what we call full staffing,” Jonathan Rogers, president of the Oxford Teacher’s Association, told board members last week. “The teachers we have are people to be proud of.”

If approved, Squier’s plan would eliminate nine teaching and three licensed teaching assistant positions. It would also reduce an additional four teaching and five aide positions to part time.

According to Rogers, the teacher’s union was neither consulted about which positions could be affected nor were they present when staff members were informed their jobs could be in jeopardy.

“We were told there would be cuts, but not what or who,” the union leader explained.

Elizabeth Schaefer was one of several teachers who spoke out with concerns about the proposed cuts at last week’s school board meeting.

“There is a great gulf and a great gap between the people who work here and the people we work for,” said Schaefer, who teaches social studies at Oxford High School.