SBHS considers layoffs, reduced hours to save $515K for fiscal
year
San Benito High School trustees on Wednesday were set to
consider a plan to lay off 11 classified employees
– such positions as a library assistant and guidance technician
– while reducing hours of 10 others under the same designation in
an attempt to save about $515,000 in the next fiscal year,
according to school officials and the teachers union president.
SBHS considers layoffs, reduced hours to save $515K for fiscal year
San Benito High School trustees on Wednesday were set to consider a plan to lay off 11 classified employees – such positions as a library assistant and guidance technician – while reducing hours of 10 others under the same designation in an attempt to save about $515,000 in the next fiscal year, according to school officials and the teachers union president.
Trustees were set to consider the proposal at their 7 p.m. meeting at the school library.
If approved, it would take effect Oct. 19. The meeting, however, took place after the Pinnacle press deadline.
Superintendent Stan Rose noted before the meeting how finance officials have estimated trustees must cut about $1.5 million by the end of next school year. He said officials believe the proposed cuts would have the least impact in the classroom.
“That’s the direction we’re attempting to go in,” Rose said.
Beyond that, he said he didn’t want to say much before Wednesday’s gathering.
SBHS teachers union President Mitch Huerta also limited his comments, other than confirming the figures and adding, “We’ll wait and see what happens.”
Huerta did, however, share an e-mail he sent to the high school staff Tuesday. In the e-mail, he noted how he is speaking on behalf of the teachers association and said the organization is “disappointed whenever anyone loses their job in the academic community.”
“These proposed cuts, no matter how far from the classroom,” he went on, “will have a negative impact on everyone. … As certified employees, the success of our work is linked to the staffing and efforts of classified employees. I am deeply saddened to see classified employees, who have a direct impact on student learning and success, losing their jobs.”
