Ed roundup: Greenfield votes to lay off 27 teachers
| Thursday, Mar 11 2010 06:15 AM
Last Updated Thursday, Mar 11 2010 05:50 PM
Greenfield Union School District on Wednesday approved a proposal to lay off 27 teachers next year to deal with a $5.5 million budget reduction.
The move could save the district $1.7 million. Officials are considering other cuts including altering bus routes, furloughs and an 11.5 percent cut in teacher pay. Retirements and teacher job shares could help save money, said Superintendent Chris Crawford.
In the last two years, Crawford said, administration has been reduced by nearly 10 percent, district office staff by 13 percent and teaching staff by 2 percent. The teacher layoffs approved Wednesday will bring the total to nearly 9 percent.
The district is also using reserve funds, Crawford said. Although reserves stand at $8 million -- which is 18 percent of the district general fund (the law mandates districts maintain 3 percent) -- they aren't large enough to close the gap, Crawford said. District payroll for one month alone runs about $4.7 million.
Greenfield's layoff announcement comes before Monday's state deadline to announce how many could receive pink slips. Greenfield has about 350 teachers.
Crawford said teachers in the district have been respectful and understanding during the "difficult situation."
Other school districts throughout southern Kern County are also proposing layoffs.
According to Channel 23 KERO, other layoff announcements included seven teachers and one administrator in Arvin; 10.5 certificated positions at El Tejon; eight teachers, five vice principals and 1.5 counselors in Lamont; and 11.5 teachers, one counselor, one nurse and a referee at Taft City School District.
Districts that did not propose layoffs, according to KERO, but will still have to make cuts include: Taft Union High, DiGiorgio, Elk Hills, General Shafter, Lakeside, McKittrick, Midway and Vineland school districts.
Boron Junior-Senior High in Muroc Joint Unified School District and Rosamond High School in Southern Kern Unified School District have been removed from the state's list of the lowest-performing schools, Kern County Superintendent of Schools officials said Thursday.
Twelve Kern County schools were originally named Monday in a list of the bottom 5 percent of California's "persistently lowest achieving schools" -- calculated using student test scores, among other things.
Schools on the list will need to make dramatic reforms under state and federal law, which could include closing down the school.
The reason why the schools were taken off the list was not immediately known, but school officials said they believed the state's plan was flawed. Rosamond High, for example, shows test scores that are dramatically higher than schools not on the list.
Starting Friday, Bakersfield High School will represent Kern County at the 31st Academic Decathlon state championship in Sacramento.
More 500 high school students from 62 schools in 42 counties will compete from Friday to Monday in 10 academic events including art, music, social science, mathematics and economics.
An estimated 10,000 students from 500 public and private high schools participate in Academic Decathlon each year. A team from California has won the national championship for the past seven years.
The state competition is presented by Northrop Grumman Corp., a Los Angeles-based global security company.
Arvin High School Principal Blanca Cavazos will finish her 13th year as the school's leader before making her move to the district office next school year.
Cavazos, 50, will serve as Kern High School District's task force administrator for instruction, where she will work with all district schools on such things as implementing professional learning communities, or PLCs, and staff development.
"I'm going to miss (Arvin) tremendously," said Cavazos, an Arvin High grad whose three sons also graduated from the school. "I get choked up about it."
Cavazos said she is proud to have seen academic programs flourish as the nation's best during her tenure, including "We the People" and Academic Decathlon programs. The school career technical education programs have also grown along with new buildings on campus.
Cavazos has been with the district for 21 years, teaching English at Arvin and helping lead Bakersfield Adult School, Foothill High School and Arvin High as an assistant principal. She said she is "thrilled" about her new position, which will allow her to cater to the entire district.
Arvin's new principal will be appointed next week, and she'll use the rest of the school year to prepare that person, she said.
Credentialed or intern-eligible teachers are invited to attend Kern County Teacher Job Fair, the county's largest gathering of school district recruiters in one location, on Saturday at University Square, 2000 K St.
Despite proposed teacher layoffs at schools brought on by state budget difficulties, positions still need to be filled where retirements and other unplanned vacancies have occurred. Many districts are looking for single-subject credentialed teachers to fill needs in math and science, language arts and special education. Jobs for speech pathologists, occupational therapists, resource specialists and school nurses need to be filled. Substitute teachers are also in demand.
Owen Burgess, Kern County Superintendent of Schools director of special services, said recently that "competition will be very fierce."
Bring a completed pre-registration application, copies of letters of introduction, resumes, three current professional letters of reference and photocopies of teaching credentials. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. Interviews will be conducted from 9 a.m. to noon.
Chevron on Friday will donate $10,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Kern County for a science education program.
The Dragonfly Quest science program, which shows students how to conduct their own scientific investigations, will benefit up to 150 club members ages 10 to 15. Chevron will donate the money at Stockdale Boys & Girls Club.
The program builds members' skills in science, math and language arts and helps the kids think critically about the world around them as they explore topics that appeal to them. The clubs will start the program this summer.
Chevron's donation is part of its effort to invest in under-served communities including funding programs for education, entrepreneurs and job training. Boys & Girls Clubs of Kern County operate in four clubs and 28 school sites in Bakersfield, Lamont and Frazier Park. More than 5,000 kids participate in all.
St. Francis Parish School in Bakersfield beat out 14 others diocesan schools last weekend in the Academic Decathlon at San Joaquin Memorial High School in Fresno.
The team won first place overall and will represent the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno in the state competition May 1 in San Bernardino.
In the individual events, Katie Deming won first place in English; Maddie Herndon won fourth place in literature; Dane Lombardo won fifth place in math; Bettina Pasamba won fifth place in science; and Nico Burger won fifth place in current events.
In team events, the team won second place in super quiz and first place in logic.
Team members included: Nico Burger, Bettina Pasamba, Dane Lombardo, Maddie Herndon, Katie Deming, Caroline Tague, Dominique Campos, Joseph Roach, Haley Will, Lauren Clarksean, Andie Grimm and Beau Bikakis.
Students participating in the 23rd Kern County Regional Science Fair on March 23 will get a chance to learn from Deanne Bell, a host of the Discovery Channel's "Smash Lab."
Bell will address students at Rabobank Convention Center where the annual science competition will take place. About 500 students in grades four through 12 from 114 schools will have their projects displayed and judged. Category winners will be eligible for the 59th California Science Fair on May 17 and 18 at the California Science Center in Los Angeles.
General public viewing of displays is from 1 to 3:30 p.m. An awards ceremony follows.
Judging will focus on scientific thought and engineering goals, creativity, organization, completeness, clarity, effort and motivation. Students must explain their displays, log books and hypothesis.
The science fair is administered by the Kern County Superintendent of Schools. Sponsors include Aera Energy LLC, Chevron North America Exploration and Production, Occidental of Elk Hills and the Kern County Science Foundation.
-- Staff writer Jorge Barrientos
For more education news, go to The Californian's education blog, The Grade, at www.bakersfield.com/blogs, or follow The Grade's Twitter at twitter.com/TBCTheGrade.
