BUSD board issues final layoff notices

Molly Shore

Outgoing school board members Elena Hubbell, Mike McDonald and

Richard Raad won’t soon be forgotten.

The trio, along with Trish Burnett and Connie Lackey, voted

unanimously Monday night to lay off 44 teachers, counselors and

other certified employees in anticipation of the school district’s

$4-million budget deficit.

Raad, who along with Hubbell and McDonald was voted out of office,

said the board had a responsibility to make the layoff decision,

given the district’s financial woes.

“We are trying to keep everything in place with as much as we

have,” Raad said during Monday’s special meeting.

The board spared the jobs of three of the four school nurses

targeted for layoffs, upholding a ruling made last month by an

administrative law judge.

“We’re pleased the nurses’ positions have been restored,” said

Sjaan Buck, the district’s head nurse

Chez-e-rae Mohler, a second-grade teacher at Roosevelt Elementary

School, was among 29 teachers expected to receive pink slips Tuesday.

Mohler, a Burbank resident with a master’s degree in education,

said she didn’t have enough seniority to survive the final cuts.

Mohler said she has no plans to move or seek work elsewhere, and

hopes to be rehired when the district’s finances improve.

“I believe so strongly in this community,” Mohler said. “We’re not

going to let this happen. We have to have a lot of faith.”

Nancy Gascich, the district’s director of personnel services, said

even though the school board approved the resolution to lay off

employees, the district anticipates rehiring employees when it

receives additional funding information from the state.

“We will continue to bring people back when we can,” Gascich said.