TUSD's Fagen fields questions on job cuts

The funding shortfall is threatening hundreds of jobs — the district's Governing Board has approved cutting 600 positions for the next school year — and leaving parents concerned about what their children will see in the classroom next year.

Superintendent Elizabeth Celania-Fagen, who fielded about 80 questions at the meeting, pledged to keep cuts away from the classroom to the degree that is possible.

And while the budget is a moving target — at one point, administrators were bracing for cuts of up to $63 million — the current best guess is that the district will have to lop $46 million out of next year's budget because of state funding cuts and declining enrollment.

Site councils have been divvying up resources at their schools, with the expectation that they will finish those plans by the end of the month.

Here's a rundown of some common questions and a summary of Fagen's answers from the meeting:

• With some schools still underenrolled, particularly on the East Side, are school closures on the table again?

Not really. Teachers still would have to follow the students, and many small schools already are sharing a principal, leaving most of the savings in the form of utility costs. "Just closing the building will not save the money people think it will," Fagen said.

• Can the district go to a four-day workweek to save costs?

No. It would put too large a burden on parents, and the community is not really prepared to have roughly 56,000 students released into the community one day a week.

• Can the district institute a furlough to help save jobs?

If every single person in the district took a day off without pay, it would save $1.3 million. "That's a long ways from $46 million," Fagen said.

• Has the district considered outsourcing some of its classified jobs, such as custodial work?

The district will look at all of its options, Fagen said, but she warned that she will not accept lower quality. "Cheaper is not always better," she said.

• What will happen to full-day kindergarten?

Although sites have yet to finalize their plans, a recent survey of elementary schools found almost all of them plan to keep full-day kindergarten. Only a few schools are still considering scaling back to a half-day, but that's only in the most dire budget scenarios.

• Why weren't staff members laid off based on performance instead of by seniority?

The district must comply with state law, district policies and negotiated agreements with the teachers union. The result was that, with some exceptions, teachers who did not yet have tenure received pink slips. Recalls of teachers also will be done largely by seniority.

• As a first-year administrator, shouldn't Fagen have received a pink slip?

"You will not get an argument from me that teachers are important, but while teachers are important, leadership matters," Fagen said, to applause.

• Why do administrators earn three to four times what teachers make?

Fagen said she agrees that teachers are underpaid. But, she said, administrators work hard too, and they work for 12 months. "If we are not going to pay for our administrators, then other people will," she said. The crowd applauded when she added, "If you want quality teachers and quality leaders, you have to pay for them."

• Will she take a pay cut to help the budget?

No. She said she accepted the job at the agreed-upon salary, with a base compensation of $205,000. If the Governing Board wants to fill the position at a lower salary, that's the board's prerogative, she said.

How was Fagen received by the audience members?

Owen Mortensen, a 47-year-old software engineer, said he came because he has two students at Rincon, and the orchestra director was on the layoff list. That's a large part of the reason one of his children won't be going back next year and is instead exploring a charter school.

He left saying he empathized with Fagen. "She's in a tough spot. I don't envy her her position at all," he said, adding that he planned to go home and write to his legislators.

Eric Ortega, a 44-year-old archival researcher, came because he was worried about potential cuts at Johnson Primary and Lawrence Intermediate schools, which his children attend. "I think she answered the questions very well and very honestly," he said, chuckling about her response to the salary question. "I'm still concerned, but at least now I have more information."

"If we are not going to pay for our administrators, then other people will. If you want quality teachers and quality leaders, you have to pay for them."

Elizabeth Celania-Fagen

TUSD superintendent