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SLO Coastal Unified School District cuts 40 jobs

April 24, 2013

schoolkidsSan Luis Coastal Unified School District trustees voted unanimously Tuesday night to slash the budget by $4.2 million by making drastic cuts in jobs and services. [Tribune]

The cuts include the elimination of 40 jobs, high school transportation, summer school and Wi-Fi installation at high schools.

The board president Walt Millar informed the more than 150 attendees that if they did not balance the budget the state could take over operations.

“We can’t not do anything this year because next year it will be worse, and the year after that we as a board will not be making decisions,” Millar said. “None of this is what we want to do.”

The 40 job cuts include teachers, librarians, instructional coaches, bus drivers, custodians and an administrator.

Charges for elementary and middle school students who ride the bus are slated to double while school budgets are to be reduced by 20 percent.

 


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Hey, whatever it takes to continue to pay SLCUSD teachers $90,000+/yr. It used to be that teachers were paid slightly less than those with jobs, public and private, requiring a similar level of education in recognition of their generous time off (13-14 weeks/yr NOT including holidays), excellent benefits, and job security (even if they are no good at it; I concede that those are few, but they remain with impunity).


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Hey obispan,

I’m not sure where you get your salary information but you are WAY off. My wife is a teacher in SLCUSD and she has been a teacher for 20 years (4 in SLCUSD). She has a masters which allows her to be paid a little more but she is below 60K.


I am a local business man who has owned businesses and has managed 100s of employees. I have also had children in multiple school districts in SLO County. I have local business experience and Fortune 500 Corporation experience.


Here are a few of my observations: (mostly mine but my wife agrees with me about 98%)

-The Teachers Unions are worthless and unnecessary. A problem in my opinion.

-Most teachers (95%) are effective and care.

-Pay Scale is good/fair and the benefits are better than average but well below other Stare workers.

-The retirement system is generous but difficult to navigate. No SSI, (I would prefer a good 401K)

-Some teachers work there ass off and get paid the same as the slackers. Accountability a problem and no reward for achievement.

-Administrators WORK VERY HARD, typicality very educated, more professional than local non-public peers. 50-60 hr weeks are common. They live in a very political world.

-I do think Administrators are paid to much but most Teachers do not want their jobs.

-SLCUSD has managed their budget 100% better than Paso Robles or other local school systems. SLCUSD has cut and reduced spending for years without lay offs where all the other districts have cut staff first.

-When teachers or front line personnel get laid off, the Admin jobs get harder and days get longer.

-The state has been inconsistent with funds and has jerked the County around with revenue.

-I don’t know how they can manage this with the type of public criticism I see here. Wow.


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Maybe in these changing times we need to look at the whole picture:


U.S. Department of Education


California Department of Education


San Luis Obispo County Office of Education


14 individual school districts (includes Grizzly Challenge Charter)


I see layers and layers of duplicate. Really, why do we “County Office of Education” with the volume of administrators and staffing. Either eliminate the administration at the school district or the County, we don’t need both at the levels. What a waste!!!


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SLOBIRD, you are absolutely right to be questioning all this, but what you are recommending is tantamount to PRIVATIZATION.


It is only free enterprise capitalism which can free up these resources so that they can be better utilized as you suggest.


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I half agree. The only difference I’d do is eliminate it from the Federal level down, until we are only left with a local district.


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Hope the teachers and administrators enjoyed that 6% raise last year, maybe they can send some of that new money to the 40 employees who lost their jobs. I wouldn’t vote for one more cent for the schools, did that last November, so go ask your Governor for some of the new millions in sales tax revenue and that new income tax from the top wage earners, the taxpayers already gave.


There is too much waste and cronyism in education (how much did that solar project cost and how much have we saved – please, give a complete, honest and open review because I want to know how much we really saved or wasted), and how much is that 6th grade move to middle cost going to cost. Maybe some of these staffers could apply for the 9 positions being advised in human resources recruitment. They have enough in dollars and cents, they just don’t use it well! Look at Paso, 91% of their budget goes to salaries and benefits.


Go borrow from the unions, they seem to have millions to throw around for causes!!!


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Same old story. Get rid of the people that do all of the work and maintain those people at the top who make these decisions. DAH!

Cuts are ALWAYS made at the bottom which is a direct consequence to the actual quality of education that should be provided. All of these self serving bureaucrats have no problems maintaining their highly paid positions along with the benefits that they receive. Just like with politicians nothing will address this until we the people become more pro active and get involved with these proceedings. After the fact and being reactive will serve no purpose.


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This is because their scare tatics work better to say cut 39 positions of regular staff to save 4.2 million instead of, cut 5 or so adminstration positions to save the same amount. They think they are likely to get the taxpayers to give them more money,


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The taxpayers don’t “give” the money to them; it is confiscated from them.


So much for a “voluntary,” “free” society.


Taxation = Robbery.


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Same thing happened at Cal Poly, and probably everywhere else also. The administration’s mission is to reduce the number of teachers and support staff while increasing the number of administrators and increasing administrative salaries. Prop. 30 simply gave the administration more money to do what they want with. Supporting the basic education of students is not high on the administrator’s priority list if it is there at all.


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Diploma mills have not been about education for decades, they’ve always been about money.


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Did Millar actually use a double-negative in that quote: ““We can’t not do anything this year because next year it will be worse…” (Rather than, say, “We cannot fail to act this year…” or something to that effect).


Anyway, did anyone forward this article to the Paso Teachers Union yet?


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They cut 40 jobs and only one administrator? Are they the sacred cows of this district? Or are there just so few there are no cuts to be made there?

Time for the property owners of the SLCUSD to increase their taxes and put this district back on its feet.

This death by a 1,000 cuts is torture. I find it hard to believe there were even 40 EXTRA employees at the distrrict.

So all you folks who think the situation is bad need to get together, bite the bullet and put something on the ballot to raise your OWN taxes to save the district. It’s still a basic aid district so property taxes constitute the majority of the revenues.

Also, you better start fighting the people who want to shut down Diablo Canyon, because the power plant is the single largest property tax payer in the district and when it closes, the first thing PG&E will do is petition to have its property tax burden drastically cut.

So another 25 years in operations is pretty vital for the district.

None of the board members wants to talk about this because it’s not PC, but the district’s fortunes are in a big way tied to that nuclear plant.

It’s sort of like falling in love with a devil.


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Are you TOTALLY OBTUSE!? WE JUST RAISED TAXES!!!! Did you vote? Do you RECALL something called Prop 30? 6 BILLION a year. How much more do they need. I have heard this same shit of more money for thirty years and YET it just gets worse and worse.


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O.k. so WTF happened to Prop 30!!!? All the naive were sold (I didn’t vote for that crap) that this would fix. It was retro to beginning of 2012 so one can’t say we have to wait for the income to start flowing.


Ah another Ca. tax and what the hell happened to the money, BOONDOGLE!!!


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Oh and look at the article on Paso yesterday. SAME THING!! CUTTING!! WHERE IS THE MONEY??????????


Beware of proporsition’s!!


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Government can’t calculate. This has been known for a long time.


Suckers! You who voted for Prop 30 thought that all that extra tax money would shore things up very nicely.


What a joke!


That money has gone down a rat hole to who knows where (the insiders ain’t talkin’).


Now they are back to their old tricks, laying people off, hitting you where it hurts, squeezing you to fleece you of more of your dough, until……………?


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A complete list of the positions cuts would be nice, but it seems like it was 39 regular staff jobs and 1 adminstration job. If so, the trustees still haven’t learn anything, it needs to be the other way around 1 regular staff and 39 adminstration jobs cut and that would be a good start, of course if a few trustees could be eliminated that would be fine too.


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I’m actually curious what the “administrators” do, on a day-to-day basis – and how has that improved the school system… if at all.


Too many chiefs and unionized indians… a bad combo


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Only if you are Custer


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