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Schools

Nine Teachers Face Layoffs in Lemon Grove School District

With a budget deficit looming, trustees take action to lay off teachers.

Facing an expected $4.3 million budget gap, the governing board of the Lemon Grove School District voted 4-1 to lay off nine teachers. The action comes after voting April 24 to cut 30 classified employees.

Glenn Heath, director of human resources, said the cuts were reviewed by an administrative law judge who looks at all of the employees' records to ensure  the district has made appropriate selections. He said the district asked the judge to skip some employees on a seniority list because of their specialized credentials.

“The judge agreed with us,” Heath said. “We had to give notice to 23 people because we were not sure if the judge would allow us to skip certain people.”

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Pierre Finney, president of the Lemon Grove Teachers Association (LGTA), said this year there was no reduction in class size and classes had a high student-to-teacher ratio. Currently there are a dozen kindergarten classes with 29 to 32 students per class, and 15 fourth- and fifth-grade classes with 31 to 38 students per class, she said.

Finney said the K-8 district functioned with 125 teachers this year, and that 119 teachers were required to open the new Lemon Grove Academy for the Sciences and Humanities in September.

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With the opening of the new STEM school, teachers are expecting the student population to increase or stay at the same level, she said.

“It's a lose-lose situation,” she said. “The children lose out on getting the best-quality education from experienced teachers here in our district. After five years of riffs, increased workload, decrease in pay—the climate has changed. People are discouraged and beaten down. Moral is not good.”

Trustee Blanca Brown voted against the resolution, saying she does not know what the options are in the ongoing negotiations with the LGTA.

“Yes, I have to assist with balancing the budget this evening,” she said. “At the same time, I am not going to give up on the negotiations that can take place right now.”

Heath said the district and LGTA might be able to save jobs before summer through negotiations.

“Those people that are permanent and probationary and now laid off, go on a 39-month rehire list in seniority order,” said Heath. ”We hire those people back first.”

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