Involuntary teacher transfers and staff reductions are part of the district’s solution

March 10, 2020

The SUHSD’s recent financial difficulties have resulted in the cut of several administrative positions, however, the higher seniority of certain employees allowed them to remain employed within the district. These employees were sent to other teaching positions. Nonetheless, this creates a domino effect that impacts the community of the teachers with less seniority who no longer have a position and a district that has no space for them or funds to pay them with.

Through a number of different calculations such as school attrition, the fluctuation of student attendance, and enrollment, the Human Resources Department determines if any involuntary teacher transfers are necessary within the district. On top of that, the final decision does not occur until much later and is further investigated before approved.

This is a process that occurs year-round and is known as Certificated Staffing Adjustment, but new factors introduced this year are influencing transferred teacher numbers, making the job of selecting teachers for that transition much harder, according to Bonita Vista High (BVH) Principal Roman Del Rosario, Ed.D..

“It’s up to me to look at all the teachers I have on staff and ask myself if I can afford to keep all the teachers here,” Del Rosario said. “It’s a difficult thing to sit down and think about.”

Involuntary teacher transfers most often target newer teachers, or those with little to no seniority within the district, causing unrest amongst the newer teacher population at BVH.

“I think right now these newer teachers are not only unsure about where they’re going to be next year, they’re not even sure if they’re going to have a job. There’s so much uncertainty and it’s really heartbreaking because, being new teachers, there’s so much that they’re still learning. If you throw in that instability, it’s chaos,” English 9 teacher Elizabeth Tran said.

English 9 accelerated teacher Elizabeth Tran guides her students through a reading assignment. Tran spoke about her involuntary transfer from Southwest Middle High School to Bonita Vista High School.

Tran herself was a teacher that arrived at BVH from Southwest Middle School through an involuntary transfer, as she was excess in the previous school where she worked as a substitute teacher. District officials and administration expect those numbers will only increase, and the newer a teacher is, the more they are at risk of receiving a transfer.

“I think that teachers who are lower on the totem pole of seniority are the most at risk, but I also think those administrative positions are risking their jobs as well because they’re making their way back to the classroom,” Tran said.

When assessments are made and no open positions are available, teachers may receive layoffs, otherwise known as reductions in force (RIFs).

“In most cases [teachers are guaranteed their positions when transferred]. Everyone that was excess this past year, they found a spot somewhere,” Superintendent of SUHSD Karen Janney, Ed.D, said. “If they’re in our system they’re entitled to a job somewhere, but if there are potential layoffs then that’s a different story.”

A change that may cause the distribution of RIFs includes the decreasing enrollment rates in the district, which in turn provides the administration with less funding to pay teachers. With 87% of the districts’ budget going towards the paychecks of personnel, budget cuts will instead center around the number of personnel there is to pay.

“For every 100 students we lose, that’s about $1 million lost. So in the past four years, we’ve declined in enrollment about 1859 students. If our enrollment was steady, we probably wouldn’t be in the same position,” Janney explained.

A factor that could cause even further enrollment drops relates to the item brought to attention during a Board of Trustees meeting, in which the Chula Vista Elementary School District (CVESD) proposed the addition of middle schools to some of their elementary schools. Potential middle school enrollment at CVESD would deprive the district of new enrollments that are currently coming out of the elementary school.

“If this leads to middle schoolers not coming to us, this necessitates more budget cuts, meaning more teachers will receive RIFs or will require the district to find some other solution, such as salary cuts, and those have to be negotiated,” Del Rosario said.

District difficulties began around last school year. However, RIFs notices were not distributed – mostly due to the aid of the early retirement incentive, which was offered to teachers with higher seniority. According to Del Rosario, it was the districts’ effort to control “how much they pay people, and how many people they have to pay.” But without that incentive being offered this year, the positions of teachers across the district may be at risk.

Carina Muniz
On Feb. 12, 2020, superintendent Karen Janney, Ph.D., talks about the budget crisis that has been ongoing since the 2018-2019 school year. Janney later went on to explain how the budget works and how it gets approved.

“Last year we had a lot of budget[s] to make up, but we didn’t lose anybody, because we had the early retirement incentive. So instead of having to lay off teachers, those people got to retire. We probably won’t have as many teachers retire this year,” Janney said.

Ultimately, Del Rosario hopes to keep everyone on staff at BVH for as long as possible, and will “fight to keep the Bonita family together,” doing everything in his power to ensure it.

“I really think it’s important that instead of turning against each other, we rely on each other. What I love at BVH is that we’re a family, and I think we’re gonna get through this together while keeping the focus on the students and giving them the school they deserve,” Del Rosario said.