La Cañada Unified plans to issue layoff notices

La Cañada Unified officials are expected to announce layoff notices for teachers and classified employees during a regularly scheduled board meeting Tuesday.

The notices are listed in three seperate resolutions on the meeting agenda. Assistant Supt. for Human Resources Patricia Hager was not immediately available for comment.

During a meeting last month, district officials said that as many as 16 employees, including temporary teachers and other relatively recent hires, could be let go.

“We assume we’re going to lose $1.5 million dollars,” board member Joel Peterson said about forthcoming budget cuts. “If the governor’s tax ballot measure doesn’t work, we could lose an additional $1.2 million on top of that. We can’t sustain the staffing that we would have.”

La Cañada Unified was able to use a $2-million donation from the La Cañada Flintridge Educational Foundation to retain teachers and avoid dramatic increases in class size during the current academic year. But district officials have said that the community should prepare for an increase in class sizes next year, even if the foundation comes through with another large gift.

Glendale and Burbank school district officials said that they will not be issuing teacher layoff notices. Pasadena Unified plans to issue layoff notices to 75 teachers and five administrators, district officials said last week.

-- Megan O’Neil, Times Community News

Twitter: @megankoneil