Placentia School Trustees OK Layoffs of 50 Administrators

Because of budget problems, Placentia Unified School District’s board of trustees has authorized laying off 50 administrative staff members by next summer.

District Supt. James Fleming said the layoffs will be necessary to keep enough money in the budget next year to offer teachers a 5% pay raise.

Teachers, however, have rejected the proposed 5% pay offer, and they began picketing in the district on Monday. The Placentia Unified Education Assn., the teachers’ union, is asking for an 8% pay raise.

“The only way we could come up with a 5% raise this year is from one-time-only sources, and to make that pay raise continual, we’re having to cut back our administrative staff,” Fleming said on Tuesday. He said the school board voted Monday night to allow the administrative layoffs and authorized changing the duties of 20 other administrators.

‘Money Available’

Wendell Bainter, president of the teachers’ union, said he doubts the layoffs are needed to provide teachers a pay raise.

“The district already had money available in order to offer us a 5% raise,” said Bainter. “We’re asking for 8%, and at a meeting with the (state labor) mediator on Monday, the school board wouldn’t budge. We have another meeting with the mediator on Friday.”

Bainter said that “a question that comes to our mind is why did the district keep all these administrators if they’re really not needed?”

Fleming, in a separate interview, said: “These cutbacks are going to be painful. Teachers won’t have the administrative resources they had in the past. But we can’t meet the 5% pay raise next year if we don’t make about $2 million in reduced spending.”

Fleming said that while enrollment in the 17,000-student school district “is showing a very small gain,” the growth is not sufficient to bring in enough state money to cover all the district needs, including a proposed pay raise. He noted that state lottery money, “which bailed us out last year,” is projected to be considerably lower this year because fewer Californians are playing the lottery.

Cuts Made ‘With Regret’

Barbara Williams, a school board member, said Tuesday: “It’s with deep regret that we had to make the decision to cut back on the 50 personnel. We’re trying to keep the cuts away from the classroom and not affect the instructional program.”

Williams said the school board is having to make the budget cuts to try to give the teachers a pay raise.

“Mr. Bainter keeps saying we have more money, but I wish he would tell us where it is,” she said.

In another action Tuesday night, the school board voted down 3 to 2 a proposal to change the name of the school district to “Placentia-Linda Unified.” That change had been sought by residents of Yorba Linda, most of which is in Placentia Unified School District.

The school board vote, however, does not kill the name change proposal. Proponents, under state law, can petition directly to the county Board of Supervisors, which has the final say in whether to authorize a school district name change.