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Salem-Keizer Public School District (SKPS) is trying to implement a budget plan that will cut 71 million dollars in spending. In the process, about 400 district employees will lose their jobs. In August 2023, the SKPS district began sharing information about a large forecasted budget gap for the 2024-2025 school year.
Superintendent Andrea Castañeda will try and achieve school board approval on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, for a reduction in force (mass layoff). According to Salem Reporter, “The jobs cut include 231 teachers, some of whom work in jobs that oversee other teachers or manage district programs. They also include 114 classified workers: classroom aides who work directly in schools, school health assistants, some graduation coaches, and employees who work for district departments. Fifteen administrator jobs will also be cut, 13% of all district administrators. Some of those cuts were announced in December. Details on what jobs are to be eliminated and how that will impact students in the classroom won’t be finalized until May.”
In the fall, the district announced the first round of reductions in December of $31 million. They planned a second round of cuts, which would cut an additional $40 million.
This will be the biggest reduction for SKPS in over a decade. It will cut multiple teaching positions, which could disrupt students education. According to Statesman Journal, “Approximately 800 more will move to different roles, departments or schools as a result of ‘bumping,’ where laid-off workers with more seniority can take certain other positions.”
SKPS will try to protect these areas as much as possible, dual language programs, current career and technical education programs, music or fine arts programs, athletics, elementary class ratio, safety staff or safety systems, special education services, mental and behavioral health services, AVID, AP and IB programming.
For more information Youtube – Andrea Castañeda
