SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : 46 School Employees to Get Layoff Slips

The Capistrano Unified School District Board of Trustees, saying that it must make $4.2 million in budget cuts by September, voted this week to send layoff notices to 46 teachers and administrators.

Monday’s vote does not necessarily mean that the layoffs will occur, but state law requires that teachers and school administrators be notified by March 15 if they are to be laid off for the fall semester, officials said. The board has until May 15 to decide whether to go ahead with the terminations.

Because the district expects to gain about 1,000 new students next year, district officials are hoping that they will not have to terminate any teachers or administrators. Some administrators may be reassigned to regular classrooms, they said. The district receives about $3,000 per student from the state.

“We have been hiring over 100 new teachers a year,” said board President Paul B. Haseman. “So I hope we won’t have to lay off anybody.”

Some of those who will receive layoff notices include 12 elementary school assistant principals, 10 speech pathologists, 10 members of the district’s high school psychology services staff, three elementary music teachers and their supervisor, and three high school counselors.

The school district includes San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente, Laguna Niguel, Dana Point and a portion of Mission Viejo.

The cuts will be necessary if Gov. Pete Wilson succeeds in cutting $2 billion from next year’s state education budget, which he says is necessary to balance the state’s general budget.

Several districts have already sent layoff notices to teachers and administrators, including the neighboring Saddleback Valley Unified district.