In 92503 news...

as a loyal, hard-working EX- employee of my city's School District. It appears that I wasn't the only one who was on the fast-track to getting completely fucked over by them.


story taken from Pe.com

Riverside Unified to cut 319 full-time positions, rejects teacher pay deal

10:00 PM PST on Monday, February 25, 2008

By IMRAN VITTACHI
The Press-Enterprise

RIVERSIDE - Riverside Unified officials announced Monday that the district will eliminate the equivalent of 319 full-time positions for the next school year, cutting $26.6 million from its 2008-09 budget.

Today, the school board may vote to close Grant Elementary School, the district's smallest grade-school campus, and take more budget-trimming actions such as eliminating its SAT preparatory classes and the Riverside Virtual School, the district's online instructional program.

"If we're really going to do that, they need to know that as quickly as possible," board president Chuck Beaty said.

The cuts come in response to an anticipated decrease in state funding.

Monday's announcement came after the school board voted on Friday to trim its teaching and other certificated work force by 10 percent, its managerial staff by 11 percent and the number of classified positions by 6 percent.

The board also voted Friday to reject a tentative deal giving teachers a 6 percent raise in salary through June 2009.

"Our feeling is we're going to hold them accountable to the tentative agreement," said Mark Lawrence, head of the Riverside City Teachers Association, the local teachers union. "We may have to go back to the table but we could end up in an impasse very quickly."

Riverside Unified, the second-largest school district in Riverside County, last year counted 1,845 teachers on its payroll, according to state education data. Affected employees will get pink slips by March 15, district officials said Monday.

Among the decisions, the board approved eliminating the district's kindergarten through second-grade class-size reduction program, class-size reduction in ninth-grade math and some language arts classes.

The board also voted to eliminate the elementary music program, including six itinerant music teachers, and the elementary counseling program. Each high school will lose a counselor, and five high school librarian positions will be eliminated.

District officials said that some of those 319 positions could be eliminated through attrition.

"Lots of things can change between now and when the state adopts its budget," said Deputy Superintendent Mike Fine, the district's chief finance officer. "We will adjust accordingly as the state adjusts."

Students at Grant Elementary were to take letters home to their parents Monday, alerting them to the possible closure. The board may decide on the school's fate during today's open study session at 2 p.m. in the board room, 6735 Magnolia Ave.

Reach Imran Vittachi at 951-368-9283 or ivittachi@PE.com

when Arnold's dumb ass first was inaguarated as ''governator'' they tried to hit us first with these cuts.

Looks like they're bringing em back. My heart goes out to all the Riverside Unified School District employees who are about to join the afterlife of RUSD employment.