[KHTS] – The Sulphur Springs School District’s Governing Board again approved district-wide layoffs in a unanimous vote during its meeting on Tuesday night.
The move comes in an effort to lower the district’s deficit from $3.1 million to $1.6 million.
The newest stream of layoffs will decrease the number of librarians in the district from nine to five, with four seeing their official 60-day notices in the next few weeks, according to Mari Nikogosyan, a labor relations representative with the California School Employees Association.
“Over the last year, we’ve looked at the entire district,” said board member, Shelly Weinstein. “Last year we laid off teachers. None of us take any of these cuts lightly.”
Receptionist and instructional assistant positions throughout the district will also see cuts.
According to board president, Kerry Clegg, one school in the district will have a permanent librarian and the rest will be split among the eight remaining schools.
Parents,teachers, and several librarians attended the meeting, with many speaking out against the layoffs.
“We were told last Thursday, before they had a chance to vote,” said Kara Bowden, one of the librarians affected by the cuts. “They didn’t tell us they were going to vote, they just told us that we were laid off.”
The positions will be discontinued on Jan. 28, 2016, according to Tuesday’s agenda.
Board member Lori MacDonald said that librarians were “essential,” but the governing board was put in a tough situation, and “none of this is taken lightly.”
One of the librarians who will stay on the district payroll, Carol Enriquez, said that because of her fellow librarians being cut, those that remained would be unable to give enough attention to the students in the district.
“We’re not going to be able to get all the kids in thirty minutes a week,” she said. “It’s impossible. There’s 35 kids (in all of the classes). It’s not going to happen.”
Clegg blamed the situation partially on the effects of the 2008 recession, which left fewer families having children to be enrolled in the district.
“They would tell us we would have a 50 student loss,” he said, “and we would lose 100.”
Clegg also said that without drastic steps taken now, representatives from Sacramento would come and begin cutting at any and all non-essential jobs including school bus services.
“The state does not require transportation in any district,” he said. “As far as the state is concerned, it is the parent’s responsibility to get their kids to school. If the state were to come in, they could say ‘you don’t need transportation for your kids.’”
Clegg claimed that districts can receive up to two “qualified” reports from Los Angeles County about their annual budget and projections for the next two years. After the second, the a state run agency comes in and takes over the district budget.
“That is what we are trying to avoid,” Clegg said. “The parent’s wouldn’t have any say and the board wouldn’t have any say in the budget.”
“It gets a little more complicated than just saying ‘we’re cutting our librarians,” said Clegg.
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7 Comments
Laying off our librarians is such a mistake! The district needs to find other ways to make cuts! What cuts are being made at the district office?
Tiffany Desgroseilliers they laid off the receptionist. They are not making district office cuts that are substantial. The superintendent lives in Ventura county, and we are paying her 500/week to commute here. In addition, she was paid a large sum of money to move, which she clearly has yet to do. They were so rude and threatened us through the entire meeting. The threat of having the state take over and get rid of the board is looking pretty good to me. They told us if the state takes over, us parents won’t have a voice. We don’t have a voice now. They made the wrong choice. How do we fight them? How to we get these people removed from their seats? Someone in the community out there…..help us!!!!!
KHTS ran the same story on their FB page, with the comments now being deleted. Gotta love it!
I think the local press should look deeper into this…why is Sulpher Springs District in so much debt…why is this all coming to a head only after Dr. Nolet and his wife retired…the new superintendent walked into a mess that she did not create, this was left for her to deal with after Nolet retired…I think there is WAY more to this story then the public is aware of.
The Board generously gave Nolet an enhanced retirement with a $200,000 annuity in addition to his retirement and another $200-250K consulting agreement. Nolet didn’t really care about the district debt load which gets paid before any staff salaries. Why does the district continue to use and believe in Davis Demographics inflated student projections? Clegg, Weinstein and DiFiguerido have been on the board for most of these decisions. No let managed them like pawns. Time for some fresh Board members.
Why would they ever hire someone that doesn’t even live here?? Doesn’t make any sense to me! So frustrating!
The district carries a heavy debt load which takes priority over paying for instructional staff. Klegg, DeFigurido and Weinstein were on the Board for much of this mismanagement and additionally rewarded Nolet with a enhanced retirement annuity and consulting contracts, together with a half a million dollar cost. The Board needs a new look.