SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Schools Rehire 51 Laid-Off Teachers

To the relief of many, the Capistrano Unified School District Board of Trustees formally rehired 51 of 58 first-year teachers this week who were laid off earlier this summer.

Despite the continuing state budget stalemate and the possibility the district may face additional cuts, an unexpectedly high number of retirements, resignations and leaves of absence allowed officials to rehire the teachers, officials said.

The teaching positions were eliminated in June when trustees approved $10 million in cuts to balance its $115-million budget. Among those rehired were kindergarten teachers whose positions were threatened under Gov. Pete Wilson’s proposal to delay the start of kindergarten for thousands of children this fall. That proposal has apparently been revised for this year and all kindergarten teachers will be needed, officials said.

In addition to rehiring the 51 teachers, the trustees also restored 10 full-time elementary assistant principal positions.

Those remaining on the endangered list are high school counselors, elementary music teachers and one psychologist. If state budget cuts aren’t as bad as expected, officials said they would reconsider cutbacks in the elementary music and counseling programs.

But for other district employees, the news has not been as optimistic.

About 64 employees such as janitors and groundskeepers who hold non-teaching positions have been laid off because of cuts. And officials have said they have little hope of restoring any of those jobs at this time.