School District Will Send Out Close to 1,000 Pink Slips

Pink slips will be sent to 970 teachers, counselors, librarians and other school staff in the coming weeks, the decided at its board meeting Tuesday night, despite speeches of protest and a turnout that ran well into the triple digits.

In an effort to close an anticipated $40 million budget hole – which may or may not come to pass, depending on the outcome of a state proposal to extend taxes – the district recently identified millions of dollars in cuts to its $430 million annual budget, mainly in the form of laid-off teachers and other staff. This is the fourth consecutive year the district has faced a bleak budget picture, and board members say they've used up other creative money-saving solutions to balance the checkbook.

“This is horrible. I thought last year was bad, but this is even worse,” said board member Jeanette Amavisca. “Hopefully, this won't come to fruition. None of us are exempted from this; we'll all be hurt.”

Teachers and other employees who attended Tuesday's meeting, however, said the district had failed to consider other options.

The district is required by law to send out preliminary notices of any planned layoffs for next school year by March 15, without knowing the outcome of a June special election that could raise tax revenue and avoid the worst of the cuts. District staff developed a budget containing the layoffs after the Sacramento County Office of Education, which must sign off on the district's financial plan, told them to base their figures on a worst-case scenario.

Tensions ran high during the special board meeting, as audience members interjected during board members' comments and board members defended their duty to make tough decisions. Superintendent Steven Ladd appeared ready to take some hits, saying he's well aware his salary will be a topic of conversation, and acknowledging no one's looking forward to the cuts.

“It is painful, it is very painful and it's disturbing that public education is put into this position,” Ladd said.

Gary Hardwick, a teacher for 34 years, said the superintendent's salary has increased 15 percent since 2007 and said there's an increasing distrust and lack of faith in the superintendent.

Middle school teacher Graham Stewart said giving out pink slips takes a psychological toll on teachers, even as they remain in their jobs. “The cost to morale is incalculable,” he said. “We have plenty of experience with this awful process – sadly, we should be quite good at it by now.”

Board member Pamela Irey came to the defense of administrator salaries, much to the gall of audience members. A large group of educators toward the back of the room immediately left after Irey remarked that top managers got higher salaries than teachers because they had attained better qualifications.

Other teachers and parents spoke out before the board ultimately voted in favor of several resolutions paving the way for the layoffs.

Nancy Gifford, who represents classified employees, said there's nothing “normal” about nearly 1,000 workers being told they may not have a job next year. She mentioned the “sacred cows," such as sports and other extra-curricular activities, that haven't been as severely affected.

Steve Vaughn, a teacher and parent, agreed that small class sizes are more important than retaining sports programs, while teacher Ellie Kuechler Van-Acker said most parents don't realize how much teachers have suffered in recent years. “If we cut the sports programs, they would be up in arms and there would be more police officers than there are tonight,” she said.

District spokesperson Elizabeth Graswich said that though the preliminary notices will be sent out, the district isn't finished cutting expenses and will be holding four community meetings next month to brainstorm ideas to balance the budget.