Temp Teachers May Lose Jobs in June

No permanent or probationary teachers will face layoffs with the 2012-2013 budget; however, about 40 temporary teachers and counselors may lose their jobs come June, according to letters sent earlier this week from Superintendent Steven Keller to teachers and parents in the district.

The state budget situation is creating uncertainty in the district, Keller said. Though officials expect at least one budget proposition benefiting public education will appear on the November 2012 state ballot, district officials decided to prepare for the worst.

"Developing a 2012-2013 school district budget on an assumption that perhaps new dollars will arrive to our district in November is a gamble," Keller wrote. "We don't gamble."

The 40 or so temporary positions have contracts that end by June 14—the last day of school—and it's unknown whether the district will restore those positions.

Nancy Billinger, the assistant superintendent of human resources, told the Beach Reporter that the temporary employees are filling in for staff who are on a leave of absence or teachers filling a position funded by the Redondo Beach Educational Foundation or the state.

According to the Beach Reporter, there were no teacher layoffs in 2011; however, in 2010, 16 elementary teachers received pink slips in May. Ten of the teachers got their jobs back by July.

"We have to plan for a worst-case budget next year," Keller wrote to parents. "Not only will educators be impacted, but our most important client, our children, will be impacted by these potentially devastating staff reductions.

"We will continue to communicate this evolving saga as we receive more information from the State."