Layoffs Loom at San Lorenzo Unified

The Board voted late Tuesday night to lay off teachers in an effort to close an expected budget shortfall, slashing nearly 30 full-time positions in addition to the 79 temporary teachers pink-slipped last month. 

Far fewer teachers were laid off this year than last year, and administrators said they expect to hire most of the pink-slipped teachers back. But many of the dozens of teachers who crowded Tuesday's meeting said students and educators alike were getting slammed in the the revolving door. 

"I've been laid off all five years," said Jennifer Moyers, a fourth and fifth grade teacher at Hillside Elementary School. "I've emptied out my classroom every year and been right back to the same classroom every year."

Others spoke of the weeks of disarray at both district high schools this fall, when some classes strained with nearly 60 students, while others spent months without a permanent teacher. One freshman science class had a series of substitutes until last week.

Because teachers are pink-slipped by seniority, under-performing schools like Hillside and Edendale—which often have newer teachers—are hit disproportionately hard. Teachers who do get hired back often end up at different schools, or teaching different grades. 

Every year, Moyers said she'd left Hillside alongside seven or eight other teachers—many of whom didn't come back at all. 

"It does seem to be mostly happening at Title I schools," said April Ellis, who teaches at San Lorenzo High School and represents the teacher's union. "It's a self-fulfilling prophesy." 

The board said the cuts were necessary to keep the district solvent if Sacramento hands down a worst-case senario. This year, that would mean cuts of about $600 per student. Superintendent Dennis Byas said even in an ideal situation, the government won't have the money it's expecting to funnel into K-12 education.

"When we're talking about the governor's initiative, we're talking about redevelopment money," Byas said. "Every city in the League of Mayors has been meeting —they're spending those monies. It's not going to be $7 billion."

Teachers facing layoffs will be notified by March 15, but Byas said he was hopeful the district would know how many it could hire back by May or June.  

"I abhor the requirement that we have to do this, and it seems like almost every year now," said Board President Norman Forbert. "There's nothing more embarrassing than having to do this and then having to hire people back."