Good news for local students and teachers was announced at Thursday night's Grossmont Union High School District Board meeting. The district won't be forced by budget constraints to send layoff notices to any teachers this year, according to a statement released by GUHSD.
The announcement, made by Superintendent Ralf Swenson, comes just before the March 15 deadline to inform certificated staff (teachers) if their contract wouldn't be continued next year. At the meeting Swenson said this decision reverses a three-year trend of sending layoff notices to certified district staff.
"This demonstrates our commitment to our students and staff by retaining our current teachers and maintaining the integrity of the instructional program," said Swenson.
The district said the decision was based upon data released by the California Department of Finance last week,where it appears that a version of the Governor’s Local Control Funding Formula will result in funding that is adequate to mitigate the effect of the District’s projected enrollment decline of 879 students next year. Other budget solutions, including the commitment of $7.1million in district reserves, will be used to cover shortfalls that might exist due to structural deficits that persist.
The deadline for announcing classified employee layoffs is next month, and no decision has been made on that yet. The District said it will continue to evaluate its budget projections and monitor news from Sacramento on the adoption of the Governor’s budget proposal.
A statement released by GUHSD contributed to this post.
