On Labor Day, unemployed math teacher Nicholas Hamilton was trying to enjoy his holiday as best any recently laid off teacher could enjoy himself. But because he had received a pink slip at the end of the last school year, the scorching sunlit afternoon lost its feel of joy for him and for his wife, Angela. Instead that joy was replaced by a sense of urgency.
Then the phone rang.
Hamilton says that the conversation went something like this:
“Hello?”
Mr. Hamilton, this is Chimere Taylor from the Human Resources Department of Southfield Public Schools. I’m calling to say we need you back. You can come back to work tommorow.”
And just like that, Hamilton had his job back on that Labor Day he’ll never forget.
Many other teachers in the school district however, did not get such a call. Southfield High’s staff size alone decreased from 104 teachers four years ago to 63 teachers this year due to budget cuts.
Hamilton had 5 years of teaching experience in Southfield, which explains why he was laid off in the first place, Seniority rules the district. When he got his pink slip, his students and coworkers were hit almost as hard as he was. “It was like the world stopped,” says Hamilton who was both relieved and exasperated about the whole situation.
He says he was called back because one of the math teachers that would have been replacing him this year got a counseling job while another moved to special education. It seems like fate brought Hamilton and his infamous sarcasm back to Southfield High. “OMG, I frickin’ love him!” said one of Hamilton’s favorite students, junior Kiara Bryant. She’s not the only student that feels that way. Hamilton was thrown a going away party by his students, which not a lot of teachers will ever be able to say.
Hamilton says, “I was going to miss the senior class and staff the most. I’ve been with the senior class since they were freshmen, and I got to know a lot of them.”
He grew up in Rochester, Michigan where he attended Rochester Adams High School.
He graduated from Western Michigan University with a bachelor in arts and a secondary degree in teaching mathematics and health.
Hamilton is known for his sarcasm and bluntness, but few know he has a soft side to him. He spent a year in Florida in 2005 to help rebuild homes after Hurricane Charley ravaged many people’s houses.
His other soft spot belongs to his daughter, Izabella, whose footprints are tatooed on both of the teacher’s arms.
Hamilton’s job is safe for now but the district could go through another downsizing in June if enrollment continues to decline, as projected, and budgets get tighter.
Hamilton says he hopes he’ll survive another cut. “It’s something I never want to go through again.”