Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) school board last Thursday night approved, by a 6-1 margin, eliminating 55 full-time positions, including some 44 teachers as well as four principals, for the 2020-2021 school year.
The cuts, according to authorities from PUSD, are as a result of four school closures that were announced by the school board in the fall. Shrinking enrollment is another key reason for the layoffs.
However, some of those employees who will be officially receiving layoff notices in the coming days could be rehired, depending on how student enrollment changes.
The school board was up against a March 15 deadline, after which no layoff notices could go out for the next school year.
Michelle Richardson Bailey was the only school board member to vote against the 55 layoffs.
In September, the board announced the closures of Franklin, Jefferson and Roosevelt elementary schools for the next school year. Then in October, the school board announced the upcoming closure of Wilson Middle School.
PUSD was facing a $4 million shortfall in its 2019-2020 budget when it announced the upcoming school closures. The L.A. County Office of Education had threatened to take over the Pasadena schools unless PUSD could address its budget woes.
“The PUSD has determined that it shall be necessary to decrease the following programs and services of the district no later than the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year,” a statement issued by the school board said. “It shall be necessary to terminate at the end of the 2019-2020 school year the employment of certain certificated employees of the district as a result of the reduction of programs and services.”
