CVSD cuts hours, jobs
The numbers have been tallied in the Central Valley School District. The district has cut a total of 97 classified staff hours per day, but the number of people who have lost their jobs is in the single digits and there’s some hope that some of those hours might come back if enrollment increases enough.
A total of 58 hours per day were cut from the general education classified hours, which includes media assistants, supervision assistants and school secretaries. Para-educators paid for by Learning Assistance Program funding lost 24 hours per day. Special education para-educators lost 15 hours a day, but that number may change.
“As enrollment comes, then we’re going to start adding those class hours back in depending on who is coming in the fall,” said district spokeswoman Melanie Rose.
The district gave layoff notices to 27 people on June 10. The following day the 183 remaining para-educators were called to the district office in order of seniority and allowed to choose what jobs they would have in the fall in a “modified re-bid” process.
“The majority of people who came in, they just came in and took the job they originally had,” said Jeff Cross, Central Valley Public School Employees president. “Some of them maybe lost an hour and a half and were willing to accept the reduction in hours.”
After the process was complete, the district began recalling the classified employees who had been laid off. Since then 23 employees have returned, one resigned and three “decided to stay in layoff status because the hours weren’t great enough for them,” Rose said. If positions open up based on increased enrollment, they will get the first chance at the positions.
Cross said he was hearing from unhappy employees before the re-bid process took place. “I think you’re always going to hear that when you go through something like this,” he said. “It’s stressful for people. They don’t know where they’re going to be or how many hours they’re going to have.”
Those complaints seem to have gone away since the process was completed. “As difficult as it was for everybody to have to go through that, it went well. There are only three people that are still in layoff (status). I’m almost sure they’ll be brought back eventually.”
The loss of para-educator hours will hit the elementary schools in particular. Many para-educators help out in the classrooms and tutor small groups of children who are struggling in math and reading, of significant importance in the WASL age. Schools that have a high number of students on free and reduced-price lunch have additional financial resources. But some existing resources may end up going to middle schools instead. “We’re starting to see an emphasis shifting, especially grant dollars to older students,” she said.
But the para-educators haven’t gone away entirely, she said. “We just won’t have as many hours as we had before.”
Things are looking brighter for teachers. The district had announced the loss of 19 positions, along with the hope that the number would be covered by retirements. More than 19 teachers left the district at the end of the school year. Some teachers have been moved around to fill holes, but a few needed positions remain vacant. “We are hiring,” Rose said. “Not as many as we have hired in the past few years.”