The list of employees who will receive pink slips in the Morgan
Hill Unified School District will officially get a little longer at
tonight’s school board meeting.
The list of employees who will receive pink slips in the Morgan Hill Unified School District will officially get a little longer at tonight’s school board meeting.
Due to a $2.8 million deficit, the district is forced to hand out layoff notices to 28 elementary school teachers, eliminate some electives at the junior high and high school levels and now cut four district office level jobs. The school board is planning to pass a resolution to add four directors to the layoff list at its twice-monthly meeting at 6 p.m. tonight.
The directors who will receive a layoff notice are the director of special education, both directors of curriculum and the director of educational technology/information systems. The final count stands at 34 full-time positions that will remain on the chopping block unless, or until, notices are rescinded.
Adding these positions to the list comes just three working days before employees must legally be notified. Pink slips are scheduled to be given beginning Wednesday, according to the school board. Those notices can be taken back if the school district budget is restructured in a way that provides enough money to save jobs.
The district has noted that it may “deviate from terminating certificated employees in order of seniority, based on a specific need for personnel who possess special training and/or experience … ” such as teachers who have training in special education, speech therapy, secondary science and secondary math core. The board said it will first look at the “date of hire” list published in February, when the board first announced teacher layoffs, and work through the list while also weighing previous experience and other certificates or training a teacher might have. Other certificates could save a teacher from being handed a pink slip if there is a need in the district for his or her specialization.
