SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Popular Teachers’ Jobs Still on Hold

In his first year of teaching seventh-grade social science classes at Marco Forster Junior High School, Chris Schefter was nominated for a teaching award by his peers. He was so well regarded by his students that one, in a compliment of sorts, scrawled “Mr. Schefter is the best” during a recent $20,000 vandalism spree at the school.

But on Monday, a frustrated Schefter found himself in front of the Capistrano Unified School District trustees asking one simple question: “Will I be coming back to school this fall?”

Schefter, who realizes the ultimate answer to his question rests with Sacramento legislators and their stalled attempts to balance the state budget, is one of 59 teachers who still face losing their jobs this fall. Another 93 positions are also slated for layoffs under the $10-million reduction plan approved by the board in late June to balance the district’s $110-million budget. The budget proposal accounts for a decrease of about $80 per student in state funding for the coming school year, or about $2.4 million.

“The message isn’t being lost on the students that their favorite teachers might not be coming back,” Schefter said. “We teach by example a lot in our society.”

Capistrano Unified School District, with a total of 152 positions slated for elimination, has sent out more layoff notices than any other district in the county.

Frustrated trustees said they hope to rehire all of the teachers who have been sent layoff notices. However, they said they must first wait until they learn how much state funding they will lose. State law requires school districts to approve a balanced budget by June 30, whether the state has a budget or not.

“What kind of way is this to run a school district?” Trustee Annette B. Gude asked in disgust.

On Monday, however, trustees were able to put 27 teachers back on the payroll. So far the board has rescinded 228 of the original 287 layoff notices sent to teachers on March 15.

The board also delayed sending 30-day layoff notices to 21 reading aides in the district pending the outcome of the state budget deliberations. But the board was also forced to approve layoff notices for 16 instructional aides and two school clerks.

Meanwhile, trustees told teachers such as Schefter to call district officials each day for updates on the state budget condition. If the education cutbacks are not as severe as officials are anticipating, the trustees said rehiring teachers would be the first priority at their next meeting Aug. 17.