The list of teachers who will receive notifications of possible
layoffs is becoming more clear as local school districts settle on
the criteria for determining seniority.
The list of teachers who will receive notifications of possible layoffs is becoming more clear as local school districts settle on the criteria for determining seniority.
As the March 15 deadline nears to notify teachers of possible layoffs, school administrators stress that the notices are not final, but only a caution. Many districts will overestimate the number of certificated staff – teachers and counselors – to be laid off next school year because administrators have no word about the state budget.
Most of those in danger of receiving notice are those lowest on the list – first-year teachers and those without full credentials. Since teachers start work on the same day, each district needs a tie-breaker system.
At a special meeting Feb. 26, the San Benito High School District Board of Trustees approved a point system recommended by personnel director Evelyn Muro that determines a seniority list for certificated staff hired on the same date. The list was modified after the board’s Feb. 19 regular meeting when some of the language was questioned – including the definition of a role model.
“The whole process has been very stressful,” said Muro, who has spent more than a month preparing the list. “We really have not had to do this before with certificated staff.”
The six components of the list include teachers with appropriate credentials and training, 30 points; teachers with performance records who are competent and high quality, 20; teachers whose continued employment increases staff diversity composition and possess bilingual certification, 15; teachers with the greatest breadth of teaching experience or expertise, 15; teachers with demonstrated service to the school and students, 15; and teachers with records of current professional growth, 5.
The modified list also includes a breakdown of partial points for each category. A team of three administrators, including an on-site administrator, will review each affected certificated employee’s personnel file and additional documentation.
Muro finished a seniority list based on this criteria Thursday.
“We have to be sure to get everything right. People can’t help but have apprehension,” she said.
The Aromas-San Juan Unified School District Board of Trustees approved three pertinent resolutions at its meeting Wednesday night: a resolution of intention to dismiss certificated employees as a result of a reduction or discontinuance of particular kinds of service, a resolution of criteria determining order of seniority for those certificated employees with the same first date of paid service and a resolution determining competency standards for certificated staff.
The district has five employees who have been on leaves of absence during the current school year, said Superintendent Jack Munoz. They do not have to notify the district about whether they are coming back until April 15, so the district has to plan blindly. And, if the state decides to cut the class-size reduction program to save money, more teachers will have to be cut, Munoz said.
Munoz presented a list of teachers and services that will have to be cut. The total comes to 15.2 full-time equivalent certificated employees from multi-subject teachers, kindergarten through 8th grade (10 full-time equivalent), Title VII coordinators (1.8), English (2.0), social science (1.0), physical education (0.2) and music (0.2).
Aromas School teacher Barbara Brown made the distinction that these notices “are due to declining enrollment, not budget cuts except for physical education and music.”
The resolution determining competency standards was needed because of “skipping in the seniority list,” Munoz said. Some subjects, such as special education, will not be cut even though the teacher is next on the list because those teachers are in short supply, Munoz said. These standards include teaching in the discipline for at least five years and holding a bilingual credential.
The Hollister School District also had to hold a special meeting to come up with criteria for determining seniority. Trustees approved a resolution Thursday to decrease the number of certificated employees because of a reduction in particular kinds of services. In the resolution are criteria for determining a tie-breaker between employees with the same first day of service.
Trustees also approved a seniority list based on the resolution. Teachers in special education, math, science and bilingual education as well as resource teachers who are fully credentialed may be retained regardless of seniority, according to the resolution.
The layoffs could affect more than 30 teachers, said Bill Jordan, HSD director of human resources.
Regardless of how long the list is or who gets a notice, local administrators agree that they will be delivered personally.
