Pomona Unified to make decision on how to use $4.9 million in Jobs Bill funding
POMONA -- Pomona Unified School District plans to decide early next month how to use about $4.9 million in federal Education Jobs Bill funds the district expects to receive.
Superintendent Richard Martinez said last week the district is waiting for the arrival of the funds, which can be used for certain purposes including hiring back teachers who lost their jobs at the end of last school year due to budget cuts.
The money is part of $1.2 billion the federal government allocated to California as part of an effort to save education jobs.
District administrators are in the process of calling back a majority of teachers who were laid off, because more students enrolled this year than the district expected.
District personnel had projected Pomona Unified would have about 800 fewer students at the start of the new school year, Martinez said during the meeting.
So far the projections have been off by 400 students, he said.
"What that equates to is, yes, we need more teachers back," Martinez said.
Steve Horowitz, assistant superintendent of personnel services, said the unexpected number of students has prompted school district administrators to make adjustments that he expects will be finalized by Tuesday.
While that takes place district personnel are preparing to call back most of nearly 70 teachers who were laid off, said Darren Knowles, district director of the personnel services, Friday.
In March school board members authorized district administrators to issue 321 preliminary layoff notices.
By May 209 actual layoff notices were issued.
At the end of June the district began to call back some of the laidoff teachers.
Some of the certificated personnel went back to permanent positions while others been given temporary assignments, district administrators said.
Of all the layoffs made, close to 70 people are still out of work and in a pool of people available for substitute teaching assignments, Knowles said.
For now the district will call back teachers knowing its general fund will be going into deficit spending, Martinez said.
The federal dollars could be used to offset the costs of bringing back teachers, he said, but the decision will be left up to school board members.
The school board will meet Oct. 6 for a budget study session where the federal funding will be a topic of discussion, Martinez said.
Representatives of the Associated Pomona Teachers are urging district leaders to use the money to restore instruction days lost as a result of budget cuts.
Associated Pomona Teachers President Tyra Weis told board members this week they shouldn't delay using the federal dollars.
"Put it to use. We have kids with less instruction and qualified teachers" to work with them, Weis said Thursday.
Weis said as part of APT's labor agreement with the district, language was included that requires any unexpected revenue be used to restore instructional days lost as part of budget cuts.
Depending on what district fund the money will go to, it's possible the dollars could go to add one or more days of instruction, Weis said.
"That is what we agreed to," Weis said. "This association would advocate to provide the instruction."
Although APT leadership has not polled its membership, a number of members have said the next priority should be using the funds to rehire teachers, Weis said.
APT understands the federal dollars could be used in certain other areas, she said.
"We welcome the opportunity to discuss how to spend this money," Weis said.
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