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In the face of massive budget cuts, the Sunnyvale School District is positioning itself to lay off teachers and staff. As the district waits for action by the state regarding the cuts, the board is preparing for the worst, though it hasn't come to a decision as to how many employees will be laid off.
At a recent meeting, the board approved a seniority list of teachers that the district would use in the event of employee layoffs. The district must issue pink slips or give notice to teachers of an "intent to not rehire" for the following school year by March 15. None have been issued yet. Board member Linda Kilian said teachers will receive pink slips close to the March date. Kilian explains that this is just a formality and that the teachers may be rehired.
The teachers are members of the Sunnyvale Education Association, a union whose contract with the district dictates that layoffs of teachers must begin with those who have worked the least amount of years with the district and then work up the list.
However, Kilian said the seniority list also "helps determine which employees are considered most senior based on factors other than time in service, should two employees have started on the same day," Kilian said.
At the same board meeting Gina Tiscareno, president of the California School Employees Assocation's Sunnyvale chapter, presented a letter to the board outlining the union's stance on the proposed budget cuts. The union represents staff who are not teachers—defined as classified employees.
In an effort to help with the cuts and prevent layoffs, Tiscareno proposed that the employees give back 10 paid holidays in lieu of any classified employee layoffs for a period of one year. Employees would have one day of pay deducted from their paycheck each month from September to June.
Tiscareno presented figures that showed that this agreement would save the district approximately $304,430 for the upcoming school year. In her letter, Tiscareno said, "We would expect that the other bargaining units in the district would also do their part, by doing some cost-cutting measure that closely mirrors ours in the percentage of savings to the district."
Phyllis Fowler, another district board member, said that the board is looking into the possibility of not having summer school for middle school students this year. That issue will be discussed at the next district board meeting on March 6.
The Sunnyvale School District will hold two public forums to discuss the impacts of the budget cuts on the 200304 school year and to ask for public input. The first forum will be held on March 5 at 7 p.m. at the Lakewood School multipurpose room, 750 Lakechime Drive. The second meeting will be on March 12 at 7 p.m. at the Vargas School multipurpose room, 1054 Carson Drive.
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