Schools
27 New LVUSD Teachers to Begin This Week
The educators, who are hired thanks to pay cuts for other district employees, get a tour of school campuses.
The Las Virgenes Unified School District will have 27 new teachers for the 2010-11 school year.
About 18 of them attended new teacher orientation at LVUSD offices on Friday. Assistant Supt. Dan Stepenosky attributes the district's ability to hire the new employees to current teachers agreeing to a 5.4 percent salary reduction earlier in the summer.
"Well over 90 percent opted for pay cuts and had we not taken pay cuts we wouldn't have 27 new teachers and would've had much larger classes," Stepenosky said.
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After a brief presentation, the new hires were given a tour of the district via bus.
"We had well over 1,000 applicants. From a hiring standpoint it's a great environment because we can be choosy and selective," Stepenosky said.
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The school receiving most of the new hires, six, is Mariposa Elementary School of Global Education. The school district has hired 22 teachers already and is interviewing for five open positions.
Kirk Jennings, who previously worked at Pacific Unified School District and will teach physical education and social science at Calabasas High School, said he applied for the position in the district on a "lark."
He knew the chances of getting hired were tough, and once he did he was pleasantly surprised by the support and training he received from the district.
Erica Zaragoza, who will teach kindergarten at Sumac Elementary School, also said the district made her feel welcome. "It feels like [the LVUSD] really appreciates you being here. It's a big difference from [the Los Angeles Unified School District] where I come from. I really appreciate it, especially now with all of the education cuts," she said.
The tour, led by Supt. Donald Zimring, was filled with little-known facts (did you know that Agoura High School was one of the first schools in California to have air conditioning?) and visits from principals and elected officials.
"You have a good opportunity because you have all the support you want," said Mayor Barry Groveman to the newly hired educators. "I can't think of any profession where you can have an impact like you can teaching."
The first day of school is Sept. 1.
