SAN MARCOS : Budget Cuts Prompt 140 School Layoffs

Almost 140 employees of San Marcos Unified School District received layoff notices Tuesday, one day after the school board approved $2.5 million in budget and program cuts.

The cuts devastated a broad range of programs, from bilingual education and reading laboratories to physical education and music. The actual number of layoffs will depend on the final state budget and on how many employees resign before then.

“It means that we are going to return to a condition where we have a teacher, a blackboard and a piece of chalk,” Supt. Cloyde (Mac) Bernd said.

“That may have been sufficient in the days when every family fit the stereotype of the ‘Leave It to Beaver’ family, but in this day and age, we need a lot more to educate children to a high level,” said Bernd, who added that the cuts were “the worst I have ever been through in 20 years and four states.”

San Marcos Unified and virtually every other school district in the county are laying off teachers, counselors, nurses and office workers while trying to cope with a second consecutive year of severe reductions brought about by the state budget crisis.