The Saugus Union School District governing board approved a resolution Tuesday that would lay off 41 general education paraeducator positions, but no current employees will lose their jobs because the district plans to reassign the affected paraeducators to new available positions.
The resolution represented 41 general education paraeducator positions, not people, that are being laid off for lack of funds, said Jennifer Stevenson, assistant superintendent of Human Resource.
Thirty-one of those positions are for general education paraeducators who work in the writing program, said Stevenson. Of the 31 positions, only 21 are currently filled by an employee.
She said that one of the 21 employees is resigning at the end of the year, so only 20 current employees are affected by the resolution.
“Our plan is to place them into other open positions,” Stevenson said. “None of those 20 people will be losing a job. They’re aware because the funding is ending, the learning recovery block grant, that this was the final year in this position, and we are planning to place them back into other open positions.”
The other 10 positions are general education paraeducator positions, and all of those positions are vacant so they will not be affecting any employee, just the position, she added.
In her speech to the governing board, Delmy Calderon, president of California School Employees Association Chapter 112, said she was happy to report good news following negotiations with the district.
“We are happy to report after bringing up all of the members’ concerns, we were able to reach an agreement with the district,” said Calderon. “This was such a great relief for paraeducators who work so hard assisting, teaching and taking care of students’ needs every single day.”
She added that if it went the other way it would have been financially and mentally devasting for the paraeducators who play a crucial daily role in providing support to teachers and students, and they were thankful for the agreement.
Board member Katherine Cooper made a motion for the resolution to be approved, and board member Matt Watson seconded. The resolution passed 5-0.
