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Oct 16, 2008 6:47 pm US/Central
DISD Lays Off 375 Teachers
DALLAS (CBS 11 News/AP) ―
Dallas school officials laid off hundreds of teachers Thursday in an attempt to avoid a projected $84 million budget deficit.
About 375 teachers, or 3 percent of the district's 11,500 teaching workforce were released. Forty assistant principals and counselors were also laid off. Some 450 other educators have been transferred from one campus to another.
"Today is a day of tremendous sadness throughout the district," Dallas schools Superintendent Michael Hinojosa said in a statement. "These teachers and counselors are people who devoted themselves to helping Dallas students and we will do everything within our power to help them find new jobs."
Thursday Willie Deloris Zachary loaded her truck with boxes that reflected 25 years of teaching. She and a group of educators stood outside Dallas' San Jacinto Elementary School and said their goodbyes.
"Oh it's just heartbreaking," Zachary said. "It's upsetting, but we have to do what we have to do. If we don't have a job we have to go find one."
"I was teaching my children, in the mist of that they knocked on the door and they escorted me down to the office and that's when I found out that I too would be included," explained former DISD teacher Gloria Oliver.
Across town, Tom Warner, a Pinkston High School teacher, with just three months on the job, received his termination notice as well. "When they came back and said that it was gonna be based on seniority, I knew I was gonna be one," he said.
Throughout the school district, while adults picked up youngsters, news spread about the 400-plus teachers selected for termination, as part of the district's emergency reduction in force.
There were tears from children and anger from parents. "For them to have 15 kids in one class and 15 kids in another class and to take their teacher away and put the other kids – it's not right," parent Anita Bender said.
Last week, about 215 teachers left the district under an employee buyout program that let workers volunteer for the layoff. In addition, 213 non-contract workers have been let go since Sept. 29 and the district eliminated another 197 vacant positions.
The deficit, which increased by about $1 million each week, was caused by years of accounting, budgeting and hiring errors in the Dallas Independent School District, officials said last month.
School officials have said they expect 1,100 total cuts, including layoffs and eliminations of vacant positions.
The district said the combination of job cuts and unfilled vacancies will result in a net savings of about $30 million. An additional $38 million is being saved via program cuts throughout the district.
Hinojosa said more cost-cutting measures will be needed.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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