Some students worried about the effect of teacher cuts on
student education at San Benito High School
The San Benito High School Board of Trustees voted March 11 to
notify five teachers that they may not have a job come fall and
eliminated the equivalent of 57 classes at the high school, said
Mike Potmesil, director of human resources for the San Benito High
School District.
Some students worried about the effect of teacher cuts on student education at San Benito High School
The San Benito High School Board of Trustees voted March 11 to notify five teachers that they may not have a job come fall and eliminated the equivalent of 57 classes at the high school, said Mike Potmesil, director of human resources for the San Benito High School District.
The reductions are due to declining enrollment in the district and 10 percent cuts to education funding in Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget.
Some local students are speaking out about the cuts.
Steve DaRosa, 17, knows three of the teachers who received pink slips.
“I think it’s pretty stupid,” DaRosa said. “I think it’s pretty messed up because most of those teachers are pretty cool.”
Lindsay Anderson, 18, knows one of the teachers that received a pink slip.
“I just found out today that one of my history teachers is being laid off,” Anderson said. “I was like, ‘wow.’ He was so cool.”
Larger classes would exacerbate problems at the high school, Anderson said.
“We’re already having problems with kids failing classes,” Anderson said. “Basically they’re messing up our education.”
Classes are already so large that it is hard to get a teacher’s attention and be viewed as an individual, Anderson said.
Tom Pederson, 16, agreed.
The budget cuts are unfair to students, Pederson said.
“I should care because it is our school and it is our teachers,” Pederson said.
Though some students were upset, others did not care or know about the cuts.
Annalisa Ortiz, a student at the high school, did not know that teachers received pink slips and that some class sections are being cut.
“Wow, I didn’t know all that was going on,” Ortiz said. “That sucks.”
The deadline to notify teachers that they might not have a job for next year was March 15.
If the governor’s proposed budget is approved, teachers that received pink slips might not have a job next year.
Hollister School District cuts
Thirty-nine teachers in the Hollister School District received pink slips in time for the March 15 notification deadline, said Rona Gilani, president of the Hollister Elementary School Teachers Association.
That number would be reduced if anyone retires, said Ron Crates, superintendent of the Hollister School District.
“It was teachers who did not have credentials or temporary teachers,” Crates said. “About 88 percent of our budget is people. You can’t cut 10 percent by cutting off all the lights.”
The Governor’s budget proposes the worst cut to education that Gilani has seen in her 18 years of teaching, Gilani said.
“There’s been budget cuts before and rearrangements,” Gilani said, “but nothing this severe.”
The budget cuts are so severe that administrators could not avoid affecting students, Gilani said.
“Every student in Hollister would suffer,” Gilani said. “I can say that beyond a doubt. There is no way that the schools can reopen with that many teachers gone.”
Losing 100 students to decreased enrollment does not counteract losing 39 teachers, Gilani said.
“Something has to happen,” Gilani said. “You’d have 50 kids in a class. It’s impossible. We’d have to be severely restructured.”
It is sad that this is taking place, Crates said.
“The school districts depend upon the state economy,” Crates said. “If the state economy falters, then the school districts take a hit. There has to be another way to finance schools.”
Teachers who received pink slips will be in limbo until May 15, Gilani said. May 15 is the deadline for renewing teacher’s contracts, Giliani said.
“Nobody who got pink slips can start looking right now,” Gilani said. “Nobody is going to be hiring right now. It’s just such a hard place to be in.”
Teachers that are laid off often accept part-time jobs, or jobs for private schools that do not pay as well, Gilani said.
Teachers and administrators have hope that the district will not have to cut all 39 teachers, Gilani said.
“It doesn’t really make it any easier when you’re standing there with a pink slip in your hand,” Gilani said, “wondering how you’re going to pay your bills and where your health insurance for your kids is going to come from.”
High School:
Teachers given pink slips: 5
Classes Reduced:
Math 7
Physical education 3
Foreign language 5
Drama 1
Social science 11
Sciences 6
English 5
Journalism 1
Multimedia 1
Family and consumer science 2
Music 2
Art/ceramics 3
Industrial technology 4
Computer applications 1
Also Dropped
Program specialist, special education .5
Program specialist, Induction coordinator .5
Hollister School District:
39 teachers given pink slips
