Last week, about 30 teachers got the news they have been dreading since late February, when the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees approved reductions to several teacher positions.
Roughly 30 teachers have received layoff notices—also called pink slips—on Thursday and Friday, said Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers President Nelly Vaquera-Boggs.
“It’s a kick in the gut,” she said.
By law, school districts must notify teachers of possible layoffs by March 15.
Vaquera-Boggs said that it’s still too early to determine whether the layoffs match the list of reductions that the district’s governing board agreed to in the Feb. 25 resolution, a list of just over 46 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions.
“It’s just above the number that we felt would be required, so we’re still looking at this,” she said.
Officials say the reductions are necessary, as the district faces at least a decade of projected declining enrollment. According to PVUSD Chief Business Officer Jenny Im, the district will lose an estimated 600 students next year. Because schools are funded based on attendance, that amounts to millions of dollars over the course of a year.
The district is not alone in issuing layoff notices.
According to the California Teachers Association, roughly 2,500 educators statewide recently got pink slips, with San Francisco Unified School District topping the list after issuing nearly 400.
The picture is markedly better in Santa Cruz City Schools district, which reduced teacher staffing by 1.4 FTE, according to spokesman Sam Rolens.
The pink slips are not guarantees of impending layoffs. District officials have said they may be entirely unnecessary because many positions will be vacated by retiring teachers and those leaving the district.
In addition, the district has offered $10,000 retirement incentives to teachers to free up more positions and avoid layoffs.
But that comes as no comfort to Vaquera-Boggs, much less to the teachers who must now contend with the possibility that they will not have a job next year.
“You have just impacted a person emotionally and psychologically,” she said. “This isn’t an easy thing. And there is no argument that, ‘oh, well, lucky you; you now get to apply for unemployment,’” she said. “That was the response I have been given from the district—that they can at least apply for unemployment and we can invite them back if we need them. You can’t play with people’s emotions that way; this is their financial wellbeing.”
Vaquera-Boggs also said she is concerned about the impact of the layoffs on Career Technical Education programs.
The layoffs also affected teachers who have worked with the district for many years, which runs contrary to district officials’ assurances that they would start with newer teachers, Vaquera-Boggs said.
“We were very surprised by how deep into seniority they went with some of the layoffs,” she said.
The Pajaronian has reached out to the PVUSD administration for comment.
Another shock to PVUSD’s educational community is the news that Aptos High School Principal Alison Hanks-Sloan will be leaving, with June 30 being her final day.
An online petition circulated by an Aptos High parent says that Hanks-Sloan communicated with her staff about ongoing talks regarding budget cuts, layoffs and schedule changes, when PVUSD Superintendent Heather Contreras wanted that information to come from her office.
The petition states that Contreras is therefore punishing Hanks-Sloan by removing her from the position.
PVUSD spokeswoman Alicia Jimenez said that Hanks-Sloan resigned her position, and that the information in the petition was inaccurate. Jimenez did not specify what was incorrect.
Hanks-Sloan did not return a request for comment, but in a letter to families she said, “Serving as the principal of this incredible school has been a true honor, and I am deeply grateful for the trust and support I’ve received from our students, families, and staff throughout my time here.”
