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99 Grossmont district teachers
face possible layoffs
By Lori Bledsoe
The Alpine Sun
EL CAJON — Hard times are coming down
the pike, or at least in this situation, they are coming down
from Sacramento. Governor Schwarzenegger has signed the State
Budget and it is immediately affecting our local school
districts. A special board meeting was called to order on March
5 for the Grossmont Union High School District to discuss the
impact and responses to budget cuts that are impending.
The beginning of the meeting met with a hovering ax for
more than 45 certificated district employees. Also on the slate,
to re-locate eight vice-principals back to teaching positions,
and decline new contracts for temporary employees. The district
is looking at a $10.5 million deficit for this year. Giving way
to the noticing of 99 employees that their jobs may be cut.
Scott Patterson, who has proven to be a financial
wizard in the past, making numbers work to the advantage of the
district, has labored over numbers and has presented serious
actions to the board. His recommendations to the board include,
beginning the new school year after Labor Day, reducing the
active school days in the school year, thus reducing the payroll
burden, as well as increasing class size beginning with ninth
grade classrooms. Also in his recommendation is activating an
unpaid two-day leave furlough for employees, as seen in other
districts as well as in State Departments such as the DMV.
In addition, on the block is Homestead reductions, GASB
45 liability funding, Tutorial Deficit funding, eliminate
deferred funding, Special Ed reductions, central office cuts,
elimination of restored positions, and eliminating 30 classified
positions. He is also looking at rolling back salaries and
promoting less employee absences to save on substitute costs.
Each one of these actions are being put into place to
save employees, rather than having to make the cuts to jobs that
have been proposed. The proposed job cuts are necessary, as the
State requires the notices to be placed before March 15. These
notices are not immediate, but can be put into place at the end
of this 2008-2009 school year.
Dr. Gary Woods said, “These state cuts are alarming and
will have an alarming impact on the classrooms. . . It’s
politicians playing with the lives of students.”
“One of the most difficult things that we have to deal
with tonight is the uncertainty of all of this. We don’t know
the details yet, and the devil is always in the details.” Member
Dick Hoy commented, also saying that he didn’t run for this
office to do this, though for the last two years, they have been
dealing with this very thing. “Whatever we do, we need to do it
with humanity, and we need to try to keep the cuts as far away
from the actual education as we can.”
Because it is a two-year cut, it comes to ten million
cut for this year, and a thirteen million dollar cut for next
year coming to a two year cut equaling 23 million dollars.
“What we’re doing here is cannibalizing the system.”
Jim Kelly added. He agreed with Hoy in saying that this is not
why he wanted the position on the board but also added that he
has been on the board when cuts have had to be made, mentioning
in the past a cut of 25 million dollars and it is very hard. It
is not their idea; it’s what they are forced to do.
Collins too, agreed that this is not the reason anyone
came into education, or took their seats on a board, but times
are hard and are requiring actions to be made. He recognized the
difficulty of the situation, acknowledged that these actions
come with human faces because with each loss of position, the
inability to pay mortgages, and feed families come into play.
In the noticing of personnel, the district only noticed
temporary and probationary personnel, not permanent personnel.
Collins is hoping to do anything to avoid the reductions in
staff.
The next board meeting is scheduled for next week, and
Patterson is hoping to have more information to deal with these
very difficult decisions.
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