Utah School District to Cut 500 Jobs

500 employees will lose their jobs in the Jordan School district, located in the Salt Lake City region of Utah. 250 of these staff cuts will be teachers and the school district will increase class sizes to compensate for the loss of teachers. The district is facing an estimated $30 million budget shortfall in the next school year. The district will also lay off 250 support staff including nurses, counselors, and librarians. Lay offs will be based on seniority. The school board said that 88% of the budget consists of compensation for employees. Special programs will also lose $11 million in funding .

Jordan used to be Utah’s largest school district, serving 88,000 students. It employed 9,500 people. Since July of 2009 the district was halved when a portion broke off to form a new district. Jordan now serves 49,000 students and after a year of layoffs will employ 4,500 staff.