200 School District Employees Given Notice

In the throes of historic budget woes and up against the annual state deadline for such things, the Santa Barbara School District officially sent notice this week to more than 200 certificated employees (i.e., teachers) that they, at least for the time being, will not have a job with the district next year. Specifically, 105 regular employees—spread out over 79 full-time positions—were sent a pink slip by the March 15 deadline, while 102 “temporary” teachers (i.e., long-term substitutes or people whose position is funded via categorical or site money) were similarly pink slipped. However, and the District is quick to point this out, not all those who receive the bad news actually end up being terminated, as oftentimes things like retirement and leaves of absence allow the district to rescind some of the notifications and “hire” back some of the currently laid off.