THREE RIVERS, Mich. -- The new school year is getting a sour start for Three Rivers. The superintendent and school board are laying off teachers, and it's not sitting well with locals. They've even formed a group called "T-R Cares," and they're collecting signatures to have three school board members recalled.
The layoff decision has upset many students. They even formed a sit in to protest the decision last spring.
The group obtained teacher reviews through the Freedom of Information Act to prove the layoffs are unfounded.
Three educators were let go, along with the Three Rivers High School athletic director.
"Mr. Andersen had an evaluation from June 2014. He had received 21 or 24 number ratings which is the highest you can get, said Kelly Judson of the dismissal of the athletic director. Judson serves as the president of T-R Cares.
Nine months later Anderson was given a new evaluation and received a rating of 9.
"How do you go from 24 effective ratings to 9 in nine months? It's practically unbelievable, which it is," Judsen said.
"There were factors that weren’t necessarily brought to everyone’s attention when the initial evaluation was done," explained Three Rivers Community Schools Superintendent Jean Logan explained. Logan is standing by the decision.
T-R Cares has collected more than 1,000 signatures since July, and they're in the process of making sure all the signatures are valid. A recall for those board members could happen in November.
