School Board to Vote on Teacher Layoffs Today; Pink Slip Pool Shrinks to Four Instructors

The is scheduled to terminate three teaching jobs at and four districtwide school counseling positions on Tuesday as opposed to 51 employees who were given layoff notices in March.

School district officials stated in a staff report that a majority of layoff notices are to be rescinded due to fundraising efforts, contributions from local agencies and staff retirements, which will help trim a $3.8 million budget shortfall for the 2011-12 school year.

Forty-four teachers at elementary, middle and high schools, along with seven counselors, were initially issued notices.

As of May 5, the donation driven campaign raised $330,202 from local families to save teaching jobs.

parent Mark Hathaway, who has been volunteering at phone banks to garner donations, said he is relieved about the outcome.

"I think we didn't know how the campaign was going to go . . . there was a lot of fear," he said.

Donations, combined with monies from the to partially fund a fourth and fifth grade science program and money to be saved from salaries of 28 retiring teachers, collectively save the district about $900,000, according to a staff report.

Employees to be terminated have the least seniority within the LVUSD, said Rose Dunn, director of instruction.

Pending board approval, the staff to be cut from next year’s payroll includes:

• Beth Quinlan--Social science teacher at Calabasas High.
• Julie Scheppele--Social science teacher at Calabasas High.
• Natasha Mahendra--Math teacher at A.E. Wright Middle School
• Jonathan Palarz--History teacher and basketball coach at Calabasas High.
• Cathy Latty--Counselor at Agoura High School.
• Linda Ordin--Counselor at Agoura High School.
• Bobbie Johnson--Counselor at Agoura High School.
• Marianne Pall--Counselor at Calabasas High.

The Save Our Schools campaign will continue following Tuesday’s school board meeting and if enough funds are raised by June, terminated employees could have their jobs reinstated, said Karen Kimmel, the district’s chief business official.

Dunn said the next task is going to be filling positions vacated by retirees, which are mostly at high schools.

She said some elementary teachers could be moved up to the high school level to fill the gaps, which would result in a smaller staff and class size increases for elementary schools.

Class size ratios could grow from 22 students per teacher to 25 students at the elementary level, Dunn said.

However, if all elementary instructors issued layoff notices were to be laid off, , said Assistant Superintendent of Personnel Dan Stepenosky.

Susan Wachtel, principal of , said her staff is prepared to cope with bigger classes.

“We’re always ready to do our job,” she said. “The hope is class sizes won’t be as large as were originally predicted.”

Staff reorganization is to be conducted by the end of the school year, Dunn said.

Editor's Note: This article incorrectly stated that five counselors are slated to be laid off. The correct number of counseling positions is four. Also, Natasha Mahendra is an instructor at A.E. Wright Middle School, not Calabasas High.