Capistrano Unified to issue layoff notices to 238 teachers
Some jobs will be preserved, thanks to retirements, resignations and retaining small class sizes at 3 schools.
By SCOTT MARTINDALE
The Orange County Register
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO – About 230 Capistrano Unified teachers will begin receiving final notices today that they won’t be needed next year as the district finalizes plans to cut $27 million from its 2008-09 budget in response to anticipated state cutbacks.
The school board on Monday voted to issue 238 layoff notices to certificated educators, 27 fewer than those receiving “reduction in force” notices in March. The final notices will go out by Thursday, as required by state law.
“We don’t want to give out any more layoff notices than we have to,” said Suzette Lovely, deputy superintendent for personnel services. “It’s beyond regrettable.”
Of the 27 layoffs rescinded, 14 teachers were kept because of resignations and retirements. Trustees on Monday shielded 13 teachers at Kinoshita and San Juan elementary schools in San Juan Capistrano to ensure continuity at the academically struggling campuses.
Not all of the 238 educators still on the list will lose their jobs. A handful is expected to be kept based on more recent retirements and resignations; still others will benefit from a plan adopted Monday to fund the 20:1 ratio of students to teachers in kindergarten through third grade at three elementary schools – San Clemente’s Las Palmas Elementary, plus Kinoshita and San Juan – using federal Title I poverty money.
District officials plan to cut the class-size reduction program at the district's 33 other elementary campuses, but the school board unanimously approved the plan to save it at just the three schools.
The program and staffing cuts are intended to trim Capistrano’s spending in response to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s January announcement that the 2008-09 minimum K-12 funding allotment would be cut by $4 billion.
The most controversial part of Monday’s layoff vote, approved 5-2 with trustees Larry Christensen and Duane Stiff dissenting, was the provision that allowed the 13 Kinoshita and San Juan teachers to bypass the seniority-based system by which the other teachers are to be laid off.
Kinoshita and San Juan are designated "program improvement" for failing to meet federal No Child Left Behind performance targets for two consecutive years. Their teaching staffs completed up to 28 hours of specialized training this year to raise student achievement. District officials argued to the school board that major changes in the composition of the staffs could jeopardize the schools’ chances of moving out of “program improvement” status.
The Capistrano Unified Education Association teachers union opposed the exemptions.
“This is setting bad precedent for CUSD,” union president Vicki Soderberg said during the meeting. “This district may have to RIF again. What training will have to be exempted then?”
Added Stiff: “I find it really strange that a special effort was not made to make sure this board was made aware of this exemption. We’re talking about bumping up permanent employees.”
But trustee Anna Bryson, who joined the majority of trustees in approving the 13 exemptions, emphasized the importance of providing extra opportunities to underprivileged children, especially ones struggling to learn English.
“Apparently there are some people who think those children are expendable,” Bryson said. “I find that intolerable.”
Also Monday, as part of the district’s cost-cutting measures, the board approved eliminating 44 of the district’s 62 bus routes and the elimination of 14.1 non-classroom classified positions.
By SCOTT MARTINDALE
The Orange County Register
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO – About 230 Capistrano Unified teachers will begin receiving final notices today that they won’t be needed next year as the district finalizes plans to cut $27 million from its 2008-09 budget in response to anticipated state cutbacks.
The school board on Monday voted to issue 238 layoff notices to certificated educators, 27 fewer than those receiving “reduction in force” notices in March. The final notices will go out by Thursday, as required by state law.
“We don’t want to give out any more layoff notices than we have to,” said Suzette Lovely, deputy superintendent for personnel services. “It’s beyond regrettable.”
Of the 27 layoffs rescinded, 14 teachers were kept because of resignations and retirements. Trustees on Monday shielded 13 teachers at Kinoshita and San Juan elementary schools in San Juan Capistrano to ensure continuity at the academically struggling campuses.
Not all of the 238 educators still on the list will lose their jobs. A handful is expected to be kept based on more recent retirements and resignations; still others will benefit from a plan adopted Monday to fund the 20:1 ratio of students to teachers in kindergarten through third grade at three elementary schools – San Clemente’s Las Palmas Elementary, plus Kinoshita and San Juan – using federal Title I poverty money.
District officials plan to cut the class-size reduction program at the district's 33 other elementary campuses, but the school board unanimously approved the plan to save it at just the three schools.
The program and staffing cuts are intended to trim Capistrano’s spending in response to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s January announcement that the 2008-09 minimum K-12 funding allotment would be cut by $4 billion.
The most controversial part of Monday’s layoff vote, approved 5-2 with trustees Larry Christensen and Duane Stiff dissenting, was the provision that allowed the 13 Kinoshita and San Juan teachers to bypass the seniority-based system by which the other teachers are to be laid off.
Kinoshita and San Juan are designated "program improvement" for failing to meet federal No Child Left Behind performance targets for two consecutive years. Their teaching staffs completed up to 28 hours of specialized training this year to raise student achievement. District officials argued to the school board that major changes in the composition of the staffs could jeopardize the schools’ chances of moving out of “program improvement” status.
The Capistrano Unified Education Association teachers union opposed the exemptions.
“This is setting bad precedent for CUSD,” union president Vicki Soderberg said during the meeting. “This district may have to RIF again. What training will have to be exempted then?”
Added Stiff: “I find it really strange that a special effort was not made to make sure this board was made aware of this exemption. We’re talking about bumping up permanent employees.”
But trustee Anna Bryson, who joined the majority of trustees in approving the 13 exemptions, emphasized the importance of providing extra opportunities to underprivileged children, especially ones struggling to learn English.
“Apparently there are some people who think those children are expendable,” Bryson said. “I find that intolerable.”
Also Monday, as part of the district’s cost-cutting measures, the board approved eliminating 44 of the district’s 62 bus routes and the elimination of 14.1 non-classroom classified positions.
Labels: California, Capistrano Unified, layoffs, San Juan Capistrano
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