Teachers picket plan to cut jobs (Daily Journal)

Aragon High special education teacher Carl Pastore holds signs after school Monday in protest of proposed budget cuts.Teachers are taking to the streets before and after school all week in an informational picket of the San Mateo Union High School District's budget situation and request more time to create solutions other than firing teachers and staff.

The school board is just days away from its final decision of how to cut $3.5 million from the current school year's budget. However, teachers are optimistic other options are available if enough community members voice their concern and support. Teachers at each of the seven high schools will continue the picketing before and after school until Thursday, when the Board of Trustees is scheduled to vote on proposed cuts. The group of teachers hopes the district will consider making minimal, if any, cuts Thursday then ask the County Office of Education for time to restore the reserves, said Aragon High teacher Jean Johnson. However, Superintendent Sam Johnson previously said the district will not consider postponing cuts. On Friday, he called the option irresponsible.?

If the district decided not to follow through with the cuts on Thursday, County Superintendent Jean Holbrook would have the authority to develop and adopt a budget for the district. She could also decide to work with the district to create a budget committee to review the numbers and recommend a solution. The teachers made it a point to keep the politics outside of the classroom. We're not using our classrooms as a soapbox,? said Johnson. The teachers were respectful during the entire process, said Aragon Principal Kirk Black who observed the informational picket after school Monday. They even informed Black of their intention to picket this weekend. Delaying the cuts isn't an option, Black said, unless the County Office of Education offers it as one. The district staff recommended a cut plan Sept. 21 which would eliminate 61 full-time employee positions affecting both classified and credentialed staff. On the chopping block is Aragon history teacher Will Colglazier, who completed his student teaching at Aragon last year. He really enjoyed the staff and the prospect of teaching the same students for his first year of teaching, so he accepted a full-time position at Aragon in May.

New teachers are considered temporary teachers, which means the school district does not guarantee their position for the following year and has the ability to fire that teacher during the school year. Colglazier said he made a conscious decision to keep working hard for his students despite learning he could be packing his bags. We are legally temporary teachers but I don't feel temporary at all,? he said. This is the beginning of my career in education.?

The school board meets 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28 at the Capuchino High School Auditorium, 1501 Magnolia Drive, San Bruno.

– Written by Fiona