The agenda for the March 2 special meeting at the Windsor Unified School District was always going to be short, but the meeting took even less time than anticipated when one of the two agenda items was tabled, and the other voted on as a resolution following the final decisions being hashed out in a lengthy closed session meeting earlier in the evening.
Ultimately, the school board announced that after a 90-minute closed session, they had decided to lay off three FTE single-subject elementary school teachers (one math, one English language arts and one social studies), a 0.6 FTE physical education and a 0.167 FTE foreign language (French), for a total of 3.767 FTE employee reductions.
A proposed elimination of a 0.2 FTE music teacher was removed from the final resolution. According to Superintendent Jeremy Decker, the vote for the layoffs was unanimous.
“We had a robust discussion in closed session and modified our reductions, removing the elimination of the music position,” he said.
“We really tried to focus on our enrollment and needed staff,” added Decker after the meeting, to explain the decided layoffs.
This process is different than the annual pink slip process that takes place each spring when budgeting and staffing is uncertain, in that these layoffs are permanent and not likely to be overturned.
In addition, the board also announced it would not be “reelecting” a teacher from Cali Calmecac, which means that while the individual will no longer be employed by the district, the position will remain open and be filled. This is different from the above layoffs, wherein the entire position is being eliminated based on falling enrollment.
The agenda had originally also included a resolution to for district schools to not participate in standardized testing for the 2020-21 school year. However, the item was tabled, and Decker stated after the meeting that he unsure whether or not it would be returning for consideration.
“We were trying to figure this thing out,” Decker said. “We were trying to allay fears and we didn’t want to bring students back to class and then immediately do nothing but testing for a month. But, I think was a bit preemptive in putting it out there now. I’m going to be doing more research and getting more information and making sure it will be OK. I wanted to make a strong statement for our families, but more time is needed. So, it might come back and it might not.”
