DPS to lay off 140 bus attendants, union says

Layoff notices are expected to go out on Friday to more than 140 Detroit school bus attendants who assist special-education students, union officials said Wednesday.

The bus attendants would be out of a job seven days later and could represent the first wave of hundreds of Detroit Public Schools employees possibly being laid off this school year due to the financial crisis that is gripping the district.

On June 30, DPS adopted a 2-year budget plan that calls for laying off about 818 teachers and 900 other workers, in addition to eliminating 142 vacant administrative jobs and cutting $81 million in non-salary spending.

The changes would cut $522 million from the budget that projected deficits for 2008 and 2009. Keith January, president of AFSCME Local 345, which represents the bus attendants, said the union was told Tuesday that 140 of the 260 bus attendants will get layoff notices that will be effective in seven days.

Since 1968, the attendants have helped disabled children such as those who use wheelchairs or have visual impairments or mental disabilities, he said.

They earn about $10.99 per hour, work about four hours a day and assist about 2,000 students, January said.

A state appointed review team is to look over the district's finances this month and determine whether the governor should appoint a financial manager to take over DPS' operations.

By Chastity Pratt Dawsey