Superintendent Jeffrey Felix. School Board President Dawn Ovrom is standing behind him
Issuing temporary layoff notices to teachers and staff to prepare for the possibility that there may not be enough money in the budget to pay them is a March ritual other schools district in California have performed many times. In the past, Coronado Unified avoided this step, but not this year.
At its meeting Tuesday, the board of governors voted to cut the equivalent of 18 full time positions, or 10% of district employees, to help offset at $2.8 million dollar deficit.
The vote to issue pink slips was approved four to zero, with trustee Brenda Kracht ill and unable to attend, but it was clearly an action the board would have preferred to have avoided again this year. Superintendent Jeffrey Felix called the it “the worst part of my job.”
Under state law, the layoff notices have to be issued by March 15, even though the final budget will not be approved until June.
Hanging over the process are two major unknowns: whether or not voters approve the $29 million bond measure and whether the district receives another grant from the Department of Defense (DOD).
If the bond measure passes the layoffs will be rescinded, school officials say. On the other hand, if the DOD grant is not renewed, the district may be forced to make additional cuts.
For the past three years, the district has received $1.6 million annually to support students from military families who attend Coronado schools. The funds are used for all students, not just those brought here by the military, for academic support services including intervention services and math testing.
“If the grant isn’t renewed, we’ll have to find another way to fund these services,” said Claudia Gallant, Senior Director of Curriculum Development.
With a financial future that is uncertain at best, the Governing Board moved forward with cuts recommend by principals at each school site without comment.
“The last thing I’m going to do is question the judgment of these calls,” Trustee Bruce Shepherd said.
When making the cuts, principals endeavored to cause the least harm.
An effort was made to “keep the cuts as far away as possible from students,” said Bill Cass, Silver Strand Elementary principal. “We also took it as an opportunity to streamline programs,” and “optimize leaning time,” said Whitney DeSantis, Village Elementary principal.
Still, Middle School principal Jay Marquand said that regardless of how careful the site leaders were, the cuts would “increase class size anywhere from three to five plus percent” and ultimately hurt the quality of education in Coronado
“This is the worst recommendation I’ve made in my 20 years in education,” he added
All the school sites made cuts except for Palm Academy. Its principal, Kevin Nichols, said his school was already being run on a tight budget. “Last year we took a 60% reduction,” he said. Nonetheless, Shepherd asked Nicholls “to go back and think about this a little further and come back with 5 to 10% more in cuts.”
The complete list of cuts is in the March 3 CUSD board agenda on the district website (itemized list begins on page 41).
Teachers are not the only ones facing layoffs; Felix also recommended cutting 15% of the district staff.
While many fail to recognize the significant role administrators play a in a child’s education, Felix pointed out that district office and support staff assist teachers at every level making sure the campuses are clean and providing security and technical support. He added that the district has been doing so with a reasonable number of administrative and service staff.
Felix presented a comparison chart from the San Diego Office of Education that is available on the district’s website under Budget News. “In the number of administrators, staff, and teachers we sit in the middle,” Felix said. “We are well within the range of where we should be.”
Not everyone present agreed. “Teachers feel the hiring of consultants has been excessive,” said Laura Noonan, teacher’s union president.
While she acknowledged the value of consultants, she argued that they were a luxury in tough economic times.
She also requested that if the bond measure, which the majority of teachers support, passes, CUSD teachers want to be involved in deciding how the money is spent.
When it came time to vote, all members expressed dismay, with Board President Dawn Ovrom saying,
“Our job to accept those recommendations, and work to change them.
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Gloria Tierney
Staff Writer
eCoronado.com
