Post by Modesto Anarcho on Feb 4, 2009 17:50:09 GMT -5
Big demonstration leads Sylvan board to set new meeting
By Michelle Hatfield
mhatfield@modbee.com
Armed with a bugle and drum, 200 Sylvan Union School District teachers protested Tuesday night's trustee meeting, where 58 positions were to be considered for elimination.
Their effort paid off: Trustees voted to hold a special meeting to consider the layoffs in two weeks.
Not everyone could fit into the district's boardroom, a portable that holds about 50 people, so the rest of the crowd stood outside. With his bugle, one teacher played taps to evoke a funerallike atmosphere symbolizing the people who could lose their jobs. He also played a cavalry charge to rally fellow teachers.
The teachers were concerned about a proposal to cut 58 positions. Those who could lose their jobs include 33 elementary teachers, seven music teachers, four art teachers, two librarians, a counselor, two deans and an elementary school assistant principal. The cuts could affect 64 employees.
Schools across California will consider similar reductions in the coming months. The state budget crisis and poor housing market are eating into school district budgets, and declining enrollment is cutting state funding for districts.
As the state tries to cope with the funding gaps, districts could be given flexibility in how they spend money earmarked for specific programs. For example, districts could receive funding for reducing class sizes to 20 students per teacher even though classes could be larger than 20-to-1. Sylvan Union officials are looking into that possibility.
District officials are planning to cut $4 million from the $63 million budget for the 2009-10 school year.
Sylvan Union Superintendent John Halverson said the layoff proposal was meant to give officials flexibility if they needed it, and that no one was getting a pink slip Tuesday night.
Sylvan Educators Association President Chris Aguilar urged trustees to hold off on any action until another meeting at a larger venue to allow everyone a chance to attend and speak. During Aguilar's speech, about 25 people pushed into the portable, an apparent attempt to get the meeting called off for violating the fire code that limits the room's capacity.
Aguilar also wanted to know why class-size reduction was being considered as a "first resort." He also asked why teacher layoffs were being targeted before other cuts in spending were decided.
Officials need to act soon. State law requires that teachers and counselors be warned of any possible layoffs by March 15.
After Halverson cleared the air about the potential layoffs to those attending the meeting in the portable and outside, trustees decided to hold off on the proposal. They scheduled a Feb. 17 special meeting to discuss the layoffs in a larger room.
When notified of the delay, teachers outside cheered and thanked trustees.
Sylvan Union enrolls 8,150 students from north Modesto and parts of west Riverbank.
Bee staff writer Michelle Hatfield can be reached at mhatfield@modbee.com or 578-2339.