Possible layoffs looming for teachers in Fresno’s Central schools. Here’s what we know
When Central Unified School District voted to lower graduation requirements in October to be on par with nearby districts, officials said they couldn’t promise there wouldn’t be layoffs.
Now the board is looking to vote on Jan. 26 to eliminate 10 full-time teachers. No tenured staff will be affected, and all the positions are probationary, district officials said during a board meeting on Tuesday evening.
The plan is to eliminate at the end of the 2020-2021 year five social sciences teachers, two Spanish teachers, and one teacher each from drama, business, and physical education/dance.
The employees will have the right to be rehired in the order of seniority if there is a vacancy within 24 months, according to Jack Kelejian, the assistant superintendent of human resources.
Kelejian said cutting graduation requirements from 280 to 230 credits, which will reduce a high school student’s classes from seven to six each day, “has eliminated the need for sections in electives and social sciences.”
“This decrease will not impact specialized services, nor eliminate academic programs, including (Career Technical Education) pathways, nor will it impact any tenured certificated staff,” he said.
Kelejian said the last time staff members were laid off this way was during the recession in 2006/2007.
Superintendent Andrew Alvarado said in October that under the new model, teachers would have “reduced contact with students by almost 40-50 students.”
The new requirements mean that beginning in the fall, teachers will teach five classes (down from six) each semester, Alvarado said.
Why did graduation requirements change?
Central Unified has an 86% high school graduation rate, ranking fourth among the five largest local districts (Fresno, Clovis, Madera, and Sanger are the others) in graduation numbers. The previous requirements held Central kids to a higher standard, requiring more credits than other districts in the area. Beginning 2021-22, they’ll be on a par at 230 credits.
Between 300-400 students do not graduate each year, according to district data.
The current requirements exceed the requirements by the state and give students 70 credits for electives. Students are only required to take 50 electives per the state of California.
It wasn’t clear Tuesday night exactly which classes would be eliminated.
However, the planned cuts to social sciences come on the heels of a recent report by researchers at UCLA and UC Riverside concluded that California’s public schools “are falling far short” when it comes to teaching civics and democracy (which fall under the social sciences umbrella), even at a time when public interest in politics and government has rarely been more intense.
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