MOORPARK : School District to Put Freeze on Hiring

The Moorpark Unified School District will not lay off workers for the 1991-92 school year to balance its budget, but it will put a hiring freeze on open teaching positions to save about $488,000.

Supt. Thomas G. Duffy told the school board Tuesday night that district employees “are the reason for the district’s excellence. There will be no layoffs, and we will review attrition of employees as it occurs.”

Because of the projected hiring freeze, there will be an increase in class size to a maximum of 30 students, Duffy said.

After a 3 1/2-hour discussion on the $20-million preliminary budget, board members accepted the advice of the district’s budget committee to pare a $1.2-million deficit to $400,000 through the freezing of teaching, clerical and maintenance positions and by retaining the 1990-91 budget cuts of $253,125.

The $400,000 deficit will be addressed as soon as 1991-92 enrollment projections, liability and health insurance figures are obtained within the next few months, said Carmela Vignocchi, assistant superintendent of business services.

The district is also holding back a payment of $133,000 to Ventura County for property tax collection, pending the outcome of a class-action suit filed by districts statewide.

The deficit, caused by a projected cut in state funds, will also cause the district to take a closer look at lottery funds, increasing walking distances to cut busing costs and charging transportation fees for extracurricular activities.

Board member Tom Baldwin said he was concerned about the possible elimination of sports and fine arts programs at the district’s eight schools, but Duffy assured him that the freeze on personnel would allow each school to maintain its present level of educational programs.