More than 70 Lucia Mar Unified School District employees are going to be seeing pink soon.
On March 2, the district school board voted 6-1, with board member Georgie O’Connor dissenting, to issue pink slips to dozens of credentialed and classified employees, including 50 teachers. The district oversees most schools in southern San Luis Obispo County, including the Nipomo area.
Like every district in California, Lucia Mar is facing significant cuts in state funding. The district is looking at a $5 million loss in its general fund for the 2010-11 school year.
“A cut like this is devastating for our colleagues, for our students, and our community,” said Kevin Statom, president of the Lucia Mar Unified Teachers Association and a math teacher at Arroyo Grande High School. “And I think part of it needs some explaining, because our district seems to be cutting more [positions] than other districts.
“Our district tends to play it pretty conservative with the budget,” Statom continued. “And some people might think they’re overdoing it on the cuts.”
According to state law, the district was required to send out preliminary termination notices by March 15. The final notices must be sent out by May 15.
The total number of layoffs, however, could change come June.
“We may be rescinding some of the [pink slips] if we get more attrition,” said Michelle Ellis, the district’s assistant superintendent of human resources.
Ellis explained that positions could be saved if some of the district’s older teachers decide to retire, resign, or take a leave of absence. Despite that possibility, the outlook is pretty bleak.
“We have received a couple of retirement notifications,” Ellis said. “Unfortunately, none of them affect the layoffs … but we are expecting more notices through June.”
As of March 2, the district has cut approximately 72 full-time equivalent positions, including classified employees in management. The board also voted to cut three administrative staff members and to close three unfilled positions.
Ellis said it’s difficult to list the terminations on a school-by-school basis, but she did say some schools were hit harder than others.
“The cuts are made by seniority, so schools with a junior staff in terms of service were unfortunately affected more than others,” she explained. “It’s hard, because some of these teachers are our brightest and most motivated. They’re our future … it’s heartbreaking.”
When it came to passing out the dreaded pink slips, Ellis said she tried to “be as compassionate as possible.”
“I made a point of meeting with everyone affected in person,” she explained. “I wanted to bring that human touch to it … because, quite frankly, I think that’s the very least our teachers and staff members deserve.”
When cuts like this happen, she continued, it can be a very confusing and frustrating time, and often “people don’t know where to turn to get help.”
So to offer its soon-to-be former staff members support, the district is holding a transition workshop on April 14 from 3 to 5 p.m. at its main office at 602 Orchard St. in Arroyo Grande. The workshop will cover such topics as how to file for unemployment insurance and other benefits.
Ellis said district staffers plan to bring cuts to non-management classified positions before the board in April.
“They are handling the issuing of pink slips much better than last year,” Statom conceded. “They’re not over-slipping, where for every position terminated several teachers would get notices.”
Still, Statom said there are other options the board could be considering, such as offering Saturday school, during which students can make up attendance and schools can amass more funding; minimizing energy use; or creating a district foundation.
“I know that if all heck breaks loose in Sacramento, [the district] wants to be prepared. I understand that,” Statom said. “But it is quite disruptive for our staff and our students.
“Plus, I don’t even know if we can trust [Sacramento] to solve this problem,” he added. “Maybe the answer is here at home.”
This article appears in Mar 18-25, 2010.