Ledger-Dispatch

By Helen Bonner=20

Dennis Nelson, an 18-year veteran of = the school=20 district's maintenance department, asks the school board to delay = laying=20 off his and 10 other positions Wednesday night. The school board = voted=20 unanimously to delay its decision for two weeks.

Photo by: Helen Bonner

Marcie Bayne, labor relations = representative with=20 California School Employees Association, said legal action might = be the=20 next step if county school officials move forward with termination = plans=20 for maintenance staff, represented by the CSEA.

Photo by: Helen Bonner

Nearly 150 people crowded into a = Jackson meeting=20 hall to hear the school district's plans to address a 16 percent = budget=20 reduction.

Photo by: Helen = Bonner
Before=20 going into closed session Wednesday night, county school trustees faced = a=20 determined and passionate crowd of demonstrators.

Nearly 150 = teachers,=20 county residents and members of the California School Employees = Association came=20 to protest the proposed layoffs of 11 maintenance workers as the Amador = County=20 Unified School District faces a 16 percent budget reduction that could = grow=20 larger. They managed to convince the school board to grant a temporary = stay, but=20 district officials maintain that the state's fiscal crisis will likely = force=20 local schools to make some painful cuts.

"In the next two weeks, = the=20 superintendent and district office staff will meet with the union=20 representatives, and with us, to see what the unions are willing to do = to help=20 solve these problems," said board clerk Karl Knobelauch, who made the = motion to=20 table any action until the board's next meeting on Feb. 11. "None of = this avoids=20 our responsibility for layoffs in the future if necessary."

But=20 Knobelauch's caveat didn't dim the large audience's excitement, as it = applauded=20 as the motion carried unanimously.

Superintendent Dick Glock = summed up=20 the tough road ahead. "My understanding is we have an offer to come up = with a=20 way to cut $200,000," he said, "and we will set up the time to look at = that with=20 all bargaining groups."

Glock said it was almost certain that = some=20 teachers will have to be cut in the next year, but wouldn't speculate = how many.=20 The district has until March 15 to notify teachers of = layoffs.

The CSEA=20 argued the terminations of classified staff would violate union = agreements and=20 state laws, allegations school board president Mary Walser refuted in an = earlier=20 phone interview with the Ledger Dispatch. "We have legal counsel. All = our=20 safeguards are in place," she said. "We are following the = law."

Seven=20 maintenance workers, one grounds worker, a clerk and a secretary from = the same=20 department were among the positions being targeted. But impassioned = union=20 representatives and targeted employees pressed the board to consider = other=20 options before going through with the layoffs.

"There are other = ways to=20 solve these problems," said Dennis Nelson, a maintenance worker = scheduled to be=20 laid off. "Most of us are willing to accept furloughs or 10 percent cuts = to=20 protect the department."

Nelson has worked for the district for = 18 years.=20 "You get the pat on the back and then this," he told the Ledger = Dispatch. "We=20 keep our schools, some built in the 1920s, working. We work together -=20 carpenters, painters, plumbers, electricians. Experience is invaluable. = If they=20 hire people from outside, it could take years for them to learn what we = already=20 know."

Another layoff target, John Murray, has been working in = the=20 district for 26 years. "Why would the public pay for bonds for new = schools, but=20 not want to take care of the schools we have?" he asked.

Quoting=20 President Obama, CSEA labor relations representative Marcie Bayne = suggested=20 workers would rather see their hours cut than fellow employees = terminated. Bayne=20 later told the Ledger Dispatch the union would consider its legal = options if the=20 terminations were made.

"If the board approves the layoffs, we = will file=20 an unfair practice suit against them," she said. "I gave them fair=20 warning."

Several teachers also attended Wednesday's meeting to = show=20 support.

One, who declined to give her name, said teachers were = concerned=20 because, "if they can do this to one group, they can do it to others. = These men=20 were called in the day before the layoffs; the union wasn't even = approached.=20 There has to be more communication."

Again and again, = California's=20 snowballing budget deficit was mentioned by speakers.

"The = state's=20 financial crisis has placed the board in the unpleasant position of = making=20 budget reductions in the face of drastic cuts in funding," said Liz Tone = of the=20 Amador County Teachers Association. "The pain of these cuts is human, = involving=20 our fellow employees and their families. We desire that cuts be fair and = equitable, that they follow guidelines as well as the spirit of the = contract and=20 that employees be given opportunity for re-employment by the=20 district."

Re-employment was an option under the proposal, though = laid=20 off employees would be applying for fewer reclassified positions at = lower=20 pay.

Board trustee Terry Porray summed up the board's feelings. = "Every=20 person on this list is a valued employee, but we are in a catastrophic = budget=20 crisis," she said. "There will be a lot of layoffs, and probably = furloughs and=20 cuts. We may even get to where we have to shut down schools. ... It = isn't=20 personal."

Faced with that dire prediction, CSEA organizer Chris = Niehaus=20 had a message for Sacramento lawmakers: "Get your act together (on the = budget).=20 Help us do what is right for the kids."

Helen Bonner
Ledger Dispatch Contributor=20