MUSD: Hundreds protest proposed layoffs

Not only was Monday’s School Board meeting standing room only, there was little available floor space as a huge crowd of concerned residents, students and teachers packed in for a four-hour marathon of bad news and entreaties.

About 400 people were in attendance, and halfway through, more than 200 assembled in lines that stretched the length of the Alhambra High School Performing Arts Building to voice their opposition to announced teacher layoffs.

“We’ve spent the last hour [listening to District personnel],” said Benicia resident Peter Donalds, whose son attends AHS. “Now it’s time for you to listen to us. Those who work directly with the students should be [not be considered for layoffs].”

District officials did not respond to the suggestion that administrators, rather than educators, should be laid off.

“I’m sick of seeing the District have to solve the State’s problems,” said resident and mother Catherine Hern. “There have got to be other rocks at the State level to look under.”

One Alhambra student pointed out that the District receives funding based on Actual Daily Attendance (ADA) — a set dollar amount for each student in class on any given day, the MUSD currently receives $34.16 per student per day – and since the District places such an emphasis on attendance, it should not cut the very programs, such as the band, that keeps many students interested in showing up day after day.

Melizza Parazo, a sixth grader at Martinez Junior High, stood on her tiptoes in an attempt to reach the podium microphone.

“Ms. George is my teacher and she is the best teacher I’ve ever had,” Parazo said in a tiny voice.

Julianne George, who teaches music at both the junior and high schools, is one of the teachers slated to be cut. Student after student approached the podium to praise her and her program, and several parents spoke about the dramatic effect George had had on their child.

Despite her phenomenal popularity, George, an AHS graduate herself, has only been with the District a few years, and therefore does not have the seniority to shield her from the chopping block.

In the end, the School Board passed a resolution authorizing “pink slips” to be sent to 36 teachers. The layoffs will go into effect at the end of the current school year. District administrators met individually with the targeted teachers Tuesday and yesterday to personally deliver the blow.

The District’s Personnel Director, Rick Rubino, explained the reasons behind the cuts – specifically the $2 million in education funding the District will no longer receive due to the new State budget.

“We’re looking at $2 million in funding loss,” Superintendent Rami Muth said, explaining that by California state law and the California Education Code, the District must notify employees of possible layoffs for the following school year before March 15.

“It does not necessarily mean that they will cut and it doesn’t [mean] that a particular program will be cut, but these teachers are on the list in order to create flexibility in responding to the state funding cuts that were signed into law last week. We need to be able to respond to this crisis,” said Muth. “The budget was finally passed but we do not have details. It is prudent to notify people now.”

21 multiple subject teachers have been notified they might not have a job come fall, as well as four P.E. teachers, four music teachers, two English teachers, two mathematics teachers, one counselor and two librarians. The Director of Curriculum and Instruction position will also get the ax, but as Rami Muth vacated this position to become the District’s Superintendent and the position was never filled, no one is directly impacted by this cut.

“We absolutely support the music program, and no decision has been made,” Muth said yesterday. “The sentiments expressed on Monday night did not fall on deaf ears. We are in a very early stage of the cuts process, and each school site is gathering data and tonight [during a special Budget Workshop Board meeting held last night] we will incorporate more ideas. Not until March 23 will concrete decision be made, and we will post our recommendations on the District Web site so that people have plenty of time in advance.”

Muth said that over the next two weeks, the District’s advisory committee, comprised of 18 members (including teachers from the elementary, middle and high schools, three classified staff representatives, parents of middle and high school students, and one member of the community with no children attending District schools), will sort through all possible options and make their recommendations.

“The music program may not even get on that list,” said Muth.