San Juan Capistrano to Cut 356 School Jobs

About 250 classroom teachers in the San Juan Capistrano Unified School District could be laid off next month, as officials prepare to slash $25 million from the district’s budget in response to state budget cuts.

At a school board meeting this week, district officials said they will recommend an aggressive cost-cutting plan that would hit core classroom jobs and programs, including class-size reduction in the primary grades.

The cuts are necessary following the state budget plan signed by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger last week, that cuts $8.4 billion from K-12 public schools.

Officials have identified 356 positions they recommend eliminating, including classroom teachers, elementary school music teachers, counselors, elementary school assistant principals and high school activity directors.

All of these employees legally must be notified by March 15th they could be out of a job at the end of the year.

Still to be determined are dozens of other job cuts, from district administrators and middle school assistant principals to adult education and special education employees.

The hundreds of anticipated teacher and administrator layoffs likely will not get the district to its $25 million cost-savings target; officials also will need to cut scores of programs and services.

The school district serves San Juan Capistrano, Dana Point, Aliso Viejo, and San Clemente.