Former Waukesha Mayor Larry Nelson will return to the classroom in the fall after the Waukesha School Board approved a contract with him Wednesday, the same night it also voted to send layoff notices to 18 full-time teachers.
'I love teaching,' Nelson said Thursday. 'I'm looking forward to the challenges to do something different.'
In approving Nelson's return, the school board was honoring a contractual agreement that allowed him to go on unpaid leave for four years when Nelson was elected mayor in 2006, Waukesha Superintendent Todd Gray said. His contract was approved 8-1 as part of the board's consent agenda, which included a number of other issues that are considered routine, with the only vote against the measure cast by new board member Steve Edlund.
Human Resources Director Jack Bothwell said Nelson's return did not trigger any of the layoff notices for the 2010-'11 school year, many of which were caused by expected enrollment drops. Some teachers also received layoff notices when department coordinators were returned to the classrooms because of budgetary concerns, he said.
'I hope we're able to call most of these back,' Gray said. 'I mean, we're trying to settle a contract. If that gets settled that could have an impact.'
One of the impacts is whether the district will provide early retirement health benefits to teachers. About 40 teachers have said they were prevented from retiring before the next school year because the district would not provide them with health insurance, which was guaranteed in earlier contracts.
Nelson, 55, said he also looked into the possibility of retirement after losing his re-election bid last month, but he submitted his paperwork to return to teaching in the Waukesha School District instead.
'Once I got the information and looked at the options, it made sense for me to come back,' he said. 'I'm looking forward to it. I loved it. I felt like I was teaching on a bigger stage the last four years.'
Although Nelson was a language arts teacher at Butler Middle School before he went on his four-year leave, he said he was unsure what position he would fill upon his return. He said he could end up teaching English in one of the district's high schools.
Nelson is at the top of the district's salary schedule for teachers, based on his experience and level of education. Although the district is involved in a dispute over contract negotiations for the 2009-'10 and 2010-'11 school years, top teacher pay from the previous contract amounted to $77,331 a year. Nelson's most recent annual salary as mayor was $70,100.