School Board OKs 17 Pink Slips

Seventeen Saddleback Valley Unified School District teachers are getting letters this month notifying them that their jobs are in jeopardy.

Facing an uncertain financial future, the SVUSD board voted unanimously Tuesday evening to pink slip the 17 employees, letting them know that they may be laid off by the coming school year.

March 15 is the state deadline for districts to notify any employees who may lose their jobs.

Sending out the annual notices is "difficult for everyone involved," SVUSD board President Ginny Fay Aitkens said Tuesday evening.

In danger of being cut are the equivalent of four full-time English teachers, 2.8 social science positions and 2.4 math positions. Also on the chopping block are science, foreign language, art, physical education and auto shop teachers.

In total, the equivalent of 15.4 full-time teaching positions could be slashed from the SVUSD payroll.

The percentage of the budget SVUSD will cut going in to 2012-13 is uncertain since the severe cuts to education in Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed budget could be ammeliorated if voters approve a tax measure he plans to place on the November ballot.

At the meeting, however, SVUSD Assistant Superintendent for Business Geri Partida noted that two competing measures are also expected to make the ballot.

Partida walked the board members and audience through a review of the district's finances, including an overview of its budget estimates for the two years ahead.

Without the initiative's passage, Partida said the district would cut $900,000 in 2012-13 budget and $33.3 million the following year to make up for $11.1 million the district estimates it would lose annually.

By 2015, the district could be as much as $70 million in the hole if the worst-case scenario plays out in the coming years, she warned.

In May, Partida will present the final budget review in the trio the district is required to produce since it is unsure of its ability to pay its bills in the coming years.