NEWPORT BEACH : Trustees OK Plan to Cut $2.7 Million

More than 200 jobs--including positions for 100 bilingual and instructional classroom aides and 99 teachers--will be eliminated in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District under a plan approved Tuesday by the district’s Board of Trustees.

The school board voted 4 to 2 with one member absent for plans to cut 125 classified, or non-teaching, positions and 99 teachers’ jobs in the district’s continuing efforts to balance a budget shortfall that is estimated to be $1 million more than officials initially expected.

Some of the employees in the targeted positions will be moved to other jobs, district officials said, but 34 teachers will actually lose their jobs. It was not immediately clear how many non-teaching employees will be laid off.

Trustee Edward H. Decker lambasted the decision to cut jobs and said later that the board should consider making cuts in other areas, particularly after-school athletics.

“I’m one of those people willing to say the A word,” said Decker, referring to his support for some cuts in funding for athletics.

Board member Martha Fluor joined Decker in dissent. Both said the non-teaching staff, particularly the bilingual and instructional aides, are needed in the classrooms.

“I’m still concerned about this,” Fluor said. “Eliminating that category jeopardizes programs.”

“I have concerns about our priorities, about how we prioritize our dollars,” Decker said. “I feel there are things we need to look at that we have not looked at, and I am frustrated.”

Union officials also criticized the planned layoffs and called on officials to find other ways to balance the budget.

District officials announced Tuesday that the budget deficit is about $3.6 million, $1 million more than originally estimated. They attributed the change to a drop in county property tax values, which were lower than anticipated.

Board members approved plans for cuts totaling $2.7 million--among them the 99 teaching positions, which will mean eliminating the elementary school physical education program, as well as cuts in athletics transportation and district operating costs.

Earlier this year, the board approved other measures to try to balance the budget, including reductions in personnel at the Costa Mesa High School farm and new charges for school busing.

The district plans to vote on its overall budget in June.