Teachers within La Mesa Spring Valley School District said the district’s budget deficit will cost dozens of middle school teaching positions and cut some curriculum in half.
The educators also said the budget gap means class sizes will be maxed out at 35 students to one teacher, the history and language-arts curriculum will be cut in half and combined to form a “humanities” program. They also say they’ve been pressured to not say anything to parents about the changes.
“That’s kind of — it’s kind of crazy to keep it quiet, you know?” said parent, Kaiyon Andrews, whose son will be going to Parkway Sports and Health Science Academy next school year. “Because then, it’s eventually going to have to come ou,t and then — and then it’s like, ‘Then what?’ “
Superintendent David Feliciano responded in a statement saying there is a lot of misinformation being spread:
Like many other school districts, we are facing budget reductions due to increased costs in health and welfare benefits and special education, and a loss of one-time funding from the state and federal government. We have been working to address this deficit for several years now.
Last year, we increased student-to-teacher ratios at our elementary school sites and addressed declining enrollment and staffing at the K-5 level. We anticipate making changes to the schedules at our middle schools because the same staffing ratio adjustments need to be made at the 6-8 level. Because these changes are still in process and not finalized, we do not have details to share about those changes at this time.
I can share that, because the district is declining in enrollment (like most districts across the state), the number of classroom teachers decreases each year. Sadly, this means that many temporary teachers (those who work on year-to-year contracts) are released every year. This year won’t be any different in that regard.
With regard to central office staff: Oour district staff exists to support our teachers and our schools. The work of the classroom teacher is our reason for being. Because of the budget crisis, which is due in large part to schools being underfunded at the state and federal level, we have had to reduce staff and services across the district. This starts with the district office. Over the past two years, we have cut many district-level positions, including three managers. I share an admin assistant with the deputy superintendent of education services. At the district office, we have also gone to one custodian (from two). I’m sharing this information only to say that we always look to make cuts at the district level first.
The expansion in position has only happened where restricted grant dollars fund those positions. For instance, because we received $12.5 million to implement Community Schools, staff were hired to implement these services. While we are grateful to receive grant funds, it’s always difficult to be expanding in some areas but cutting in others. This is the unfortunate reality of the state’s approach to special programs, while underfunding K12 education in general.
To clarify, the reduction in periods will not shorten the school day; it will simply reduce the number of periods (which means each period will be longer). While we know this shift will result in a reduction in [middle school] teaching positions, it is unclear whether there will be layoffs of permanent teaching staff. Layoffs, if they are necessary, wouldn’t go to the board for approval until February.
I feel sick to my stomach as I write to you about budget cuts. There’s no way to share this information without it coming across as callous. I can only say that words don’t suffice in these times. Cutting positions and services is the last thing we want to do. In this job, there is nothing worse. Were it not for the failure of Sacramento and Washington, D.C., to adequately fund schools during an unprecedented time of need, we would not be in this situation. It is heartbreaking to see something so preventable happen to so many school districts.
Feliciano said teachers were told not to tell parents about any cuts because nothing’s been finalized yet.
Andrews really hopes the result keeps students like his son’s best interests first.
“Its pretty hard to find teachers who care,” Andrews said. “I mean: and actually breathe into our children.”
Any teacher cuts won’t be finalized until the a Feb.3 board meeting, when trustees will take a vote.