Farmington Cuts 180 Teachers And Staff - And Cuts Aren't Over

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Farmington Public Schools plan to lay off another 24 teachers, bringing to 180 the number of staff members who will lose their jobs next school years.

The teachers, all in kindergarten through sixth grade classrooms, are getting pink-slipped in the school board’s latest effort to come to grips with what the district’s human resources director, Kathy Smith, called “challenging times,” Hometownlife.com reports.

The district needs to balance its budget by June 30. More layoffs are coming, school Superintendent George Heitsch said. At a June 30 meeting, the school board will consider a list of grades 7-12 teachers who will be laid off.

Tell Us:

• Would you be willing to pay more taxes to avoid teacher layoffs? Are there other steps the district could take to avoid firing teachers?

“These lists just keep hurting. I know there are a lot of quality educators, dedicated professionals on this list,” said school board vice president George Gurrola, nothing the district doesn’t have better cost-cutting options.

“It’s not as though we have a hidden pot of money... I wish there was,” he said. “I wish we had another way around it.”