Preliminary layoffs approved
Mike Swanson
The Laguna Beach school officials unanimously agreed to issue layoff
notices for every principal and more than 30% of the district’s
teachers in its meeting Tuesday with the support of a room full of
teachers, including some expecting pink slips in the morning.
The pervasive sentiment that evening was that the root of the
problem lies in Sacramento, not in Laguna Beach.
“We’re not faulting the board,” said Dawn Mirone, president of the
Laguna Beach Unified Faculty Assn. and a government/journalism
teacher at Laguna Beach High School. “This Legislature is absolutely
ridiculous.”
The pink slips, which Laguna Beach Unified School District Supt.
Theresa Daem and several board members stressed are preliminary
notices, include 38 teachers, four principals, two assistant
principals and the district nurse. Six temporary teachers received
their notice early this month.
“We have to tonight take action or we don’t have any latitude in
terms of staffing,” Daem said.
Those not given a layoff notice before March 15 are guaranteed a
job for the next school year. The rest might have to wait on Gov.
Gray Davis and other state politicians to see if they can stay in
Laguna. A wait that could last until August or September -- when
school starts.
“The process involves the Assembly and the Senate coming together
ultimately with a budget recommendation that they’ll approve,” Daem
said. “They’re supposed to approve it by July 1, but those of you
who’ve followed the process before know that it can linger into
August and even September, which would be devastating for us.”
Regardless of teachers and administrators’ desire to stay in
Laguna, they can’t wait that long for Davis to take the proposal off
the table. If the state budget proposal stays in place, then those
who didn’t leave Laguna would likely be jobless next school year.
If teachers do find other jobs and later receive notice that their
positions in Laguna Beach have been restored, then they could be sued
by their new schools for breach of contract, Mirone said.
“We love our schools, we love our kids, our parents, we love our
whole community,” she said. “But if we have to look elsewhere for
jobs, then ... good people will be picked up other places.”
Daem said she’s been talking with Steve Peace, California’s
director of finance, and other members of state legislature and
getting positive responses. They seem willing to work on cutting the
staff by “2% or 3% instead of the 30%,” which would require the
basic-aid proposal included in Davis’ budget to be removed, she said.
“What we’re suggesting we give up is the same $100 to $250 per
student that all of the other districts in the state are giving,”
Daem said, “not the $2,000 per student that we’re [giving]. We’re
willing to take our fair share of the cut.”
Davis, however, apparently isn’t sold.
“He wants something from lawmakers, the Assembly, the Senate,
saying, ‘If I take this out, then what’ll you give me,’” Asst. Supt.
Darrin Reed said.
On Monday, the Assembly approved $8.3 billion in cuts and fee
increases toward the state’s $34.6 billion total budget deficit.
Two-thirds of the cuts strike education, with $2.7 billion in cuts
this year and $2.7 billion more scheduled for the next fiscal year,
according to published reports.
The only department escaping cuts, and actually getting an
increase in Davis’ budget, is Corrections, including $220 million
toward a new death row facility at San Quentin prison.
Melanie Lewis, speaking on behalf of El Morro Elementary’s PTA,
suggested that the district, and Laguna Beach as a whole, step up its
protest beyond deluging Sacramento, especially Davis, with letters,
faxes and e-mails.
“We understand that these staff reductions are a defensive
action,” she said. “However, we would implore the board to explore
assertive actions, such as filing a preemptive lawsuit against the
state of California.”
Daem noted later in the meeting that this issue was in a
preliminary process of its own.
“We’re signed up to participate in that [legislative] process with
our basic-aid organization,” Daem said.
While the possibility of taking its protest to the courts exists,
Laguna’s aforementioned letters, faxes and e-mail campaign is
apparently working.
“This has been called an unprecedented grass-roots campaign,” Daem
said. “They know we’re here.”
Daem made an additional appeal to meet with anyone who knows any
“influential people who make large contributions to various
campaigns, particularly the governor’s.”
The general mood of the meetingbelied difficult to detect the
somber subject matter discussed. Laguna’s teachers and board appeared
quite satisfied with one another’s contributions to this budget
crisis, and now wait on Davis and the state to even the playing
field.
“Laguna always rises to the occasion,” PTA Council President
Kristen Thomas said. “It’s wonderful to see everybody working
together. Administrators, school board, teachers and parents all
working to fight the state. I understand we’re quite a role-model
district and [the state has] called and complained. We’re bugging
them up there, which we love to hear.”
The school board will hold a special public meeting from 5:30 to 7
p.m. March 25 to talk strategy with residents to prepare for a budget
unaltered by Davis.
“We have between now and May to be pretty innovative,” Board of
Education clerk El Hathaway said.
* MIKE SWANSON is a reporter for the Laguna Beach Coastline
Pilot. He covers education, public safety and City Hall. He can be
reached at 494-4321 or mike.swanson@latimes.com.
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