EAST GRAND FORKS - Northland Community and Technical College has issued layoff notices to a handful of employees to compensate for a budget deficit in the coming fiscal year.
Three full-time employees and five temporary or part time employees have been laid off, effective next school year. The school’s digital media and massage therapy programs have also been cut, but will continue through this school year before being eliminated for the fall of 2015.
President Anne Temte said the layoffs had to be announced now due to contractual constraints, which admittedly made things awkward.
“We’re all very sad, but I do hope our efforts to inform people on what has led to these decisions at least breeds some understanding,” she said. “Nobody likes this.”
The school has campuses in East Grand Forks and Thief River Falls.
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This second round of staff cuts comes after three NCTC employees were dismissed and two other part-time workers had their hours reduced to balance a $1 million budget shortfall in June.
The recent layoffs were an effort to address a budget shortfall for the coming fiscal year of between $1.1 and $1.6 million.
