Charter Oak Approves Furlough Days, Layoffs

Expecting massive budget cuts for the upcoming fiscal year, Charter Oak Unified recently approved furlough days to help reduce the number of teacher layoffs.

During the March 1 school board meeting, the school board approved five furlough days to help reduce the number of teacher layoffs. Ten teachers will be laid off at the end of the school year.

According to Assistant Superintendent Terry Stanfill, the number of layoffs were reduced through the union-approved furlough days. Had employees not agreed to the furlough days, about 20 full time teachers would have been laid off, said Stanfill.

At the March 8 school board meeting, the board will consider concessions for all management and confidential employees.

Furlough days for classified employees have yet to be ratified, said Stanfill.

Employees receiving pink slips must be notified by March 15. More than 20 full time employees were laid off for the 2010-2011 school year.

“The state budget doesn’t give school districts much choice but to make these kinds of decisions, which impact the teachers, the students, the schools, and the community,” said School Board Member Don H. Davis. “When we make these decisions, they are not taken lightly.”

Stanfill said the district is looking at a more than $3 million cut if Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed tax initiatives don’t come through -- $1 million of that deficit coming from COLA funds that were retracted in 2012.

While the board has approved the layoffs, Stanfill said teacher retirements and larger kindergarten sizes may allow the district to rehire some teachers back.

“We’d like to encourage more parents to ,” said Stanfill. “We are enrolling students now.”

This year would be the fourth year the district has laid off employees since the 2002-2003 academic year, said Stanfill.