Our collective work to stop layoffs is having a real impact and has resulted in over 80 educators having their notices rescinded. We won’t stop, however, until district leadership rescinds all layoffs and our school communities are protected! While every single layoff notice is unnecessary and harms the educator who received it, some of our schools have been disproportionately impacted.
Linda Vista, Nipaquay, and Oak Park are three elementary schools that have been hit hard by layoff notices. At all three schools this week, SDEA union educators held meetings with school board members to share their stories and to make sure Board members fully understand the impact of their decisions. We demanded that layoff notices are rescinded now, before impacted educators are torn out of their school communities and away from our students.
Linda Vista Elementary – After years of unstable administration that contributed to educator turnover, the staff at Linda Vista are rebuilding their learning community together. Over 30 members of the school community, including educators, parents, and students met with Board member Sabrina Bazzo to walk her through the hard work they have done to rebuild Linda Vista classroom by classroom and day by day.
“Linda Vista Elementary is a special place. I arrived late November of last school year. The class I had inherited had substitute teacher after substitute teacher for nearly two months. The children did not have the social or emotional skills a stable environment would help foster. A majority of them did not even know the alphabet or how to sit properly in a chair at a desk. I advocated to loop up with them for second grade because I believed it would be in their best interests to have one teacher for an entire year. The kids have blossomed. Almost all of them are now reading at grade level. They have fabulous imaginations and love learning. I’ve been an educator for 22 years, was recruited to San Diego Unified and have dedicated myself to Linda Vista. It hurt to receive a layoff notice, of course it did, but I am much more worried about what this means for our community. Layoffs will destroy the stability and trust we’ve built and will only drive more parents away from our schools which is why we are calling on District leaders to do the right thing and rescind the remaining layoffs now.” – Mary Richardson, 1st/2nd Grade Teacher, Linda Vista Elementary.
Oak Park Elementary– Oak Park Elementary staff, inclusive of both SDEA & CSEA members, met with school board member Sharon Whitehurst-Payne to describe the impacts that layoffs would have on the school community. The members who received layoff notices are eagerly anticipating the news of being rescinded, while still providing a nurturing environment with a sense of belonging to each and every one of their students they are responsible to care for. Educators shared how devastating it would be if they were forced to leave SDUSD due to misplaced budget assumptions. With the community watching, they called on Board Member Whitehurst-Payne to use her influence to get the remaining layoff notices rescinded and restore trust in the district.
Nipaquay Elementary – Educators came to work at Nipaquay to build a new school from the ground up, including some with more than 20 years of experience who left stable jobs in other districts to dedicate themselves to realizing the vision of a school that is defined by the spirit of care and community. Nipaquay means “Our Other Home” and the impact of layoffs not being rescinded and close to half of the staff being torn from their students will dismantle the work that has been done to build this safe and stable home. SDEA members at Nipaquay met with Board President Shana Hazen to call on her to commit to doing the right thing by rescinding remaining layoffs now.
“The SDUSD board exists to prioritize the students they were elected to serve. However, Nipaquay will be decimated by the layoffs that are being imposed by the school board. Our community will be torn apart. Hardworking teachers who give more than their all every single day are being pushed out of the door. These are innovative and creative teachers with so much to offer, teachers who are also single parents, new parents, brand new teachers, and teachers with decades of experience. It is within the power of the board to stop these devastating changes and to give SDUSD students what they need, what they deserve. Rescind all layoffs and rescind them immediately.” – Janele Thornton, 3rd Grade Teacher, Nipaquay Elementary
The district has the resources to rescind all remaining layoffs and to do so NOW. Together we will not stop until that happens. School sites heavily impacted by the layoffs are continuing to meet with Board members and our work to bring parents into our collective efforts is happening throughout the district.
Together we are stronger and together we will protect our school communities!
