Teachers told of possible job cuts

Ventura County school officials have sent hundreds of potential pink slips to teachers, classroom aides and counselors as they prepare for cuts in state education funding.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, facing a state budget deficit of at least $8 billion, has suggested 10% across-the-board cuts in education, which has forced school districts to prepare extra lean budgets.

State law requires districts to inform certificated employees by Saturday if layoffs are expected. Local districts have been busy notifying employees about possible job losses at the end of the school year.

Conejo Unified School District, the county’s largest district with about 22,000 students, sent as many as 90 notices to temporary teachers and probationary instructors with less than three years’ experience. The district estimates it could lose $5 million from it’s $170-million budget.

“We have to send out more notices than we’ll probably have to activate,” said Jeff Baarstad, Conejo Unified’s deputy superintendent for business services. “That’s the rub. . . . You would like to reduce the stress and strain on [employees] wherever possible.”

Baarstad said the district was already planning cutbacks because of declining enrollment, which has resulted in 500 fewer students than two years ago.

Projections of an additional 300 to 400 fewer students this fall has the school board on the verge of closing one of two elementary schools in June 2009.

Trudy Arriaga, superintendent of the Ventura Unified School District, said she joined hundreds of other school administrators on the steps of the state Capitol on Monday morning to protest proposed reductions in education funding.

Arriaga said California spends $7,081 per pupil, nearly 21% less than the national average of $8,973.

“In a state as rich as California, with the eighth-largest economy in the world, this is not a budget deficit, it’s a ‘priority deficit’ in this state,” Arriaga said. “When are we, as adults in this state, going to say: ‘We take care of our children. Our children deserve the best?’ ”

Ventura Unified, with 15,000 students, has notified 43 temporary teachers that they may not be renewed in the fall.

Arriaga said the district projects 34 veteran teachers will also retire after June.

If the governor’s preliminary budget remains unchanged, Arriaga said her district would lose about $4 million from its $110-million budget.

“We could fire every administrator, every principal, every assistant principal, every director and that still wouldn’t get us close to saving $4 million,” Arriaga said. “We’ll have a reduction of teachers, counselors, administrators, teaching specialists, and most certainly we’ll see a reduction in resources for students.”

Last week, Simi Valley Unified sent 60 notices to temporary and first-year teachers and expects about 40 retirements this semester. The district employs about 1,100 teachers to serve more than 21,000 students.

The district is bracing for state cuts of up to $8 million and is considering several ways to trim costs, from increased employee healthcare deductibles to raising the cost for school bus service.

In neighboring Oak Park Unified, Supt. Anthony Knight said 40 layoff notices have been delivered in the 3,700-student district.

Other cost savings being considered to cover $2 million in proposed cuts in the district’s $29.5-million budget are increasing class sizes, cutting $50,000 from the athletic programs, extending a hiring freeze and eliminating music programs through the fifth grade.

“It’s really horrible the human cost of all this,” Knight said. “It’s not only the cost to education, but also on the overall morale. This isn’t just a job, it’s their career.”

Oxnard Union High School District sent notices to five of its counselors, and tiny Briggs Elementary, a two-school district in Santa Paula, notified two of its 21 full-time teachers and its one part-time instructor about possible job cuts.

Today, the Pleasant Valley Elementary District in Camarillo, which has 6,400 students, plans to send out 25 notices to its staff. The district faces a possible $3-million cut in its $53-million budget.

“All districts are feeling the pain right now,” said Supt. Luis C. Villegas, Jr. “This time out, it’s the worst I’ve seen in my 35 years” as an educator.

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greg.griggs@latimes.com