San Lorenzo School District to Issue 133 Pink Slips to Temporary Teachers

As school districts across the state review Gov. Jerry Brown's budget proposal and brace for worst-case scenarios, (SLZUSD) expects its biggest cut to be among its temporary teachers.

"This is not an action that anyone wishes to take, but we are forced to as a result of the state’s recent budget projections," Superintendent Dr. Denis Byas said in an e-mail sent to the district staff on Feb. 7.

During Tuesday's SLZUSD board meeting, board members voted to formally release 133 teachers hired for 2011-2012 school year under temporary contracts by March 15.

Byas said the district hopes to rehire the teachers as soon as the state solidifies its budget toward the end of the school year.

Among those who attended the meeting, two teachers spoke out during public comment. They accepted the reasoning behind the layoffs but requested the board to consider rehiring the teachers at the school sites they are currently teaching at rather than placed somewhere new.

Byas said that since the district's been conservative with its budget over the years, it hopes it won't have to actually layoff these teachers permanently.

"If we keep going the way we're going, we should be fine at least for another year," he said.

In an effort to save money, district positions that were previously open after laying off staff were taken over by remaining SLZUSD staff. Byas said he works as both a superintendent and deputy superintendent.

Along with increasing class sizes, Byas said the district also cut back on conference trips.

Compared to SLZUSD expects a loss of funding to fall between $600,000 and $4 million.

"We're a larger district so the cuts would be a bit different," said Dr. Lowell Shira, the district's assistant superintendent for business.

In a PowerPoint presented to the board on the impact the governor's budget proposal would have on SLZUSD (see PDF attached to this article), Shira expects deficit spending to start eroding reserves in the 2012-2013 school year.

In addition to completely eliminating $600,000 of transportation funding, the  district will also phase-out its it began planning for last year.

If the governor's proposal does not pass on the ballots this November, teacher layoffs would be just the beginning in preparation of the trigger cuts to come.

The board would need to take immediate action on cutting $5 million in on-going costs. The district would lose $370 per student starting February 2013 based on the Average Daily Attendance (ADA).

"We try to build our budget so we have stability," Byas said. "We just have to keep budgeting conservatively."