Middle school closure forces layoffs
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

The Pleasant Valley school board voted last week to lay off 24 support employees from two schools and give nearly 250 district administrators and other nonunion employees a 4 percent raise.

The district plans to lay off 11 employees from Los Altos Middle School and 13 from University Preparation and University Charter Middle schools at CSU Channel Islands at the end of the school year.

In addition, the district will give 242 directors, school administrators and support staff workers a 4 percent raise for the 2006-07 school year and an additional raise of nearly 4 percent for the 2007-08 school year.

In February, nearly 400 teachers were given an 8 percent raise by the school board.

The district employs about 600 people.

Assistant Superintendent Jan Maez said that the raises and layoffs are related to school closures. With fewer schools and employees, the district can afford to give remaining staff a raise, she said.

"The reason why our salaries are low in this district is because we pay too much overhead," Maez said.

Although district officials anticipate a 4 percent increase from the state next school year, Maez said that money will only pay for raises this year and next but not beyond.

"If our neighbors are paying a lot more and giving raises then we're going to fall behind," Maez said. "I think to keep us competitive we need a raise."

The school board voted in March to close Los Altos and another school and to relocate and restructure other programs in an effort to free up $1.5 million to give teachers a raise and add more student education programs. Except for closing Los Altos in the fall, the board reversed itself last week, opting to keep the other schools and programs intact.

District officials said, as a result, they don't need the support personnel at Los Altos, which includes custodians, school nurses, librarians and office workers.

Cheryl Walpole, director of classified employees, said some of the employees being laid off are part-time workers who split their time between Los Altos and other campuses in the district. While some will keep their positions at the other schools, others could find jobs elsewhere in the district, Walpole said.

Because the University Prep charter school acts as its own school district, it has been reimbursing Pleasant Valley for the 13 support staff members who work at its elementary and middle school campuses. Come next year, the charter school will pay for the 13 employees directly out of its own budget.

"Those employees who would like to stay on with our organization may," said Linda Ngarupe, University Prep's superintendent and principal.