HUSD makes round of teacher layoffs

District says declining enrollment in high school next year led to cuts
A small group of Healdsburg teachers received pink slips last month as a result of declining enrollment in the upper grades at the Healdsburg Unified School District.
The Board of Trustees adopted a resolution to issue layoff notices to teachers equaling 5.8 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) positions at a public meeting in March.
The March 15 deadline for teacher layoffs presents itself to the board each year due to requirements set by the California Department of Education. By law, school districts throughout California had until March 15 to notify teachers that they might not have a job next school year.
Preliminary notices are the district’s best guess as to what the coming school year budget will allow in regards to staffing costs and estimated enrollment. If the statewide reductions come in less than anticipated HUSD could rescind layoffs and keep some—or even most—of its teachers.
“The numbers as we look forward will begin flattening out but this coming year we are seeing a reduction at the high school primarily the senior class and we have a smaller eighth grade class,” Superintendent Jeff Harding said.
Healdsburg High School will graduate the biggest class in the district this year, leaving the numbers for enrollment lower next year.
“We are also losing students to interdistrict transfers because when we changed our policy we let transfers complete their span here but we are not taking new ones in,” Harding said.
District officials said that much of the reductions in district enrollment are the high school getting smaller although if elementary enrollment is any indicator for future classes, the district is seeing steady growth.
“We didn’t layoff anybody at the elementary level, if fact, elementary enrollment is pretty steady and class sizes are projected to be the same or less depending on the budget,” said Harding. “The charter is growing nearly double its size next year adding third and a fourth-fifth grade combo,” said Harding.
The Healdsburg Charter School will also add a first and second grade class expanding the school to a K-5 grade school.
Two years ago the district made significant strides to down size in hopes of avoiding further cuts in coming years. Officials say that releasing the 5.8 FTE in March does not indicate that those reductions will stick when the school year begins.
“We hope to hire back as the budget allows and if more students arrive,” Harding said. “We tend to project more conservatively because if we have fewer students than we anticipate then we can’t reduce staff at that point so we have to take the worst case scenario as it relates to enrollment projections.”
HUSD will begin its fall 2012-2013 school year two months before a decision is made at the state level on whether or not voters will approve the governor’s tax initiative. If money is restored into the budget, the board’s priority is to reinstate calendar days. Currently the school year is projected at 175 days with room to reinstate five school days back to a 180-day school year.
“There are so many factors related to the budget that it is hard to determine at this point,” Harding said of the upcoming school year.
The Healdsburg Unified School District Board of Trustees meets the third Wednesday of every month. Meetings are open to the public. The next HUSD meeting is scheduled for April 18 at 6 p.m.