THE SAN FRANCISCO Unified School District will not lay off any of its classroom teachers this year, Superintendent Maria Su announced during a recent virtual town hall meeting.
The district recently offered school staff an early retirement incentive that drew applications from about 300 veteran teachers and other staff. The overwhelming interest in the buyout program allowed the district to keep the layoffs away from the classroom, Su said at the March 13 forum.
“This is really great news for us because we were hoping that and trying to figure out a way to preserve the consistency of our teaching staff,” Su said.
Not everyone will be spared. The district has sent preliminary layoff notices to 34 school counselors, 134 teacher aides and 278 administrators and other staff to help make up a $113 million deficit, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
State law requires that districts send pink slips by March 15 each year to any employee who could be laid off by the end of the school year, although many of the layoff notices are withdrawn by May 15 — the last day final layoff notices can be given to tenured teachers.
Oakland Unified off state list with improved outlook
Meanwhile across the Bay, cost-cutting measures at Oakland Unified, including the elimination of nearly 100 jobs, have improved the district’s financial outlook enough to take it off the state’s list of most financially stressed districts, according to OUSD.
OUSD moved from a “negative” status on its second interim report to the state to a “qualified” status, district leaders said in a letter to the school community Friday. This means the district is more likely to meet its financial obligations in the coming year and beyond.
The district’s efforts to balance its budget are projected to reduce its deficit from $95 million to about $12.5 million, according to the letter.
“Those numbers show while the deficit is more manageable, it still exists, and the district still needs to find long-term solutions for a major portion of the problems,” the letter stated.
The post SFUSD won’t lay off teachers; Oakland off list of most financially stressed school districts appeared first on Local News Matters.