San Diego Unified announced Thursday that it had rescinded all but nine of the 234 potential layoff notices it said it had issued to teachers in March.
However, about 60 classified, or non-educator, employees are still expected to be laid off, said Shana Hazan, president of the San Diego Unified Council.
That’s fewer than the roughly 240 total layoffs that district administrators predicted in March and are expected to come to fruition by May.
Elementary school teachers, counselors and secondary teachers in English, physical education and social studies have not been laid off, according to the San Diego United Teachers Union, which has rallied against budget cuts during of the last few weeks.
To reverse the layoffs, the district reached an agreement with the union Tuesday to create “student support” jobs at high-needs schools for up to 50 educators who would otherwise be laid off, said Kyle Weinberg, union president. of the San Diego Education Association. These student support educators will provide small group instruction or fill early childhood staffing vacancies in transitional kindergarten classrooms.
The district and union said the agreement was intended to help preserve staff stability within the schools. The agreement preserves pay levels for teachers responsible for supporting students, Weinberg added.
“These incredible gains would not have been possible without our collective actions,” he wrote in a message to union members on Thursday.
Having educators in student support positions also gives the district the flexibility to call on them if regular teaching positions become available during the school year, without having to incur costs of hiring temporary contract staff, Weinberg wrote to members.
“The superintendent was adamant about this additional flexibility,” Weinberg wrote.
In March, the San Diego Unified School Board voted to eliminate the equivalent of more than 480 jobs to help close an estimated $94 million budget shortfall for next school year. These jobs included teachers, central office administrators, and many types of classified jobs, including special education support, bus drivers, custodians, and lunchtime assistants.
The district employs approximately 12,000 people, and personnel costs represent more than 90 percent of its unallocated budget.
Each year in mid-March, school districts are required by law to send notices to anyone facing layoffs for the following school year, and they have until May 15 to finalize layoffs.
With mid-March relatively early in the state budget cycle, districts are often able to reverse many layoffs before mid-May once they have a better idea of their budget outlook for the year next school.
“There is a lag between when we are required to give pink slips, the date of March 15, and the time required to actually do a thoughtful financial analysis,” Hazan said.
In addition to the union agreement, the district was able to avoid more layoffs through employee reassignments and transfers to vacant positions, as well as voluntary resignations and retirements, according to Hazan. She also said the district was able to use grants and restricted funds to help reduce that number.
“The fact that of all the teachers who received layoff notices, only nine remain, is a huge testament to the tireless work our fiscal and education team has done to align our goals for students with the dollars available ” Hazan said. . “This has been incredibly difficult, painful and stressful for the educators involved, but I think we are all really, really proud to be where we are today.”
All educators whose layoffs were reversed should be notified by the end of Friday, the union said.
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