Huntington Beach : High School District Considers Layoffs of 34

To cope with continuing drops in student enrollment, the Huntington Beach Union High School District is considering a $1.2-million budget cut next year that includes the layoff of 34 administrators, security officers and other non-teaching personnel.

The board will vote on the plans March 11, according to District Supt. Marie Otto. She said that the $1.2-million proposed cut is one of several options she has presented the school board. “I also have given them a proposed budget that would cut $900,000, and another one that would cut $600,000,” she said.

Still other options, Otto said, are for the board to make no cuts at all. But a pay raise for non-teaching personnel next year might be impossible in that case, she said. She pointed out that teachers in the district have a two-year contract which already provides them with a pay raise next year.

Huntington Beach Union High School District is comprised of Edison High, Huntington Beach High, Marina High, Ocean View High, Westminster High and Fountain Valley High. Otto said the district has been declining in student population for several years, and the end is not in sight. This year, she said, the district has lost 250 students and next year it is projected to lose another 480. State funding to the schools is based on student enrollment.