COMPTON — Facing a projected deficit of up to $40 million over the next three years — and hoping to avoid the potential layoff of 114 employees — the Compton Unified School District is scrambling to find cost savings in areas outside the classroom.

“It is our hope to maintain all of our employees,” said CUSD Superintendent Kaye Burnside in an e-mail. “The degree to which we are successful will depend on the cost savings we achieve as a district, funding from the state, the stimulus package, and how successful we are relative to the May 19th special election. Failure of these initiatives will produce additional budget woes and cause a greater impact on the district’s financial situation.”

One cost-saving measure now on the table is an early retirement plan.

Employees who accept the offer will receive 70 percent of their last annual salary. Those benefits can be taken over a period of time that ranges from five years to over a lifetime. Those seeking to collect before five years have an IRA option. Other options are “capturing outstanding redevelopment fees, reducing legal fees, auditing health benefits and workers comp,” Burnside wrote.

Board member Micah Ali, one of three dissenting votes at a March 10 meeting that initially approved the issuance of 120 layoff notifications, suggested “terminat[ing] the district’s contract for ConnectEd, which is an auto-dialer system, which allows the district to send mass telephone messages to parents and guardians; eliminat[ing] some district-level administrators, which include associate superintendents, senior directors, directors and coordinators; eliminat[ing] most assistant principals at all campuses; abolish[ing] all cell phone stipends for all district employees, including members of the Board of Trustees (realign with IRS standard); eliminat[ing] all mileage stipends given to administrators as a perk; implement[ing] an aggressive energy and conservation program; implement[ing] a 20 percent reduction in supplies; and reducing reliance on color copies by using black and white ink for printing.”

It is his belief that “Compton Unified School District could avert reducing our labor force,” Ali said. “However, it is only inevitable if we do not quickly maneuver this behemoth.”

The district has sent out 114 layoff notices to teachers, of which 86 are non-classroom positions and 28 are classroom positions. The latter are non-tenured teachers, or those who have been with the district for less than two years. Those positions, according to Burnside, will be filled by non-classroom positions; meaning that they are tenured teachers who are qualified to teach if needed.

“We intend to keep as many of the non-classroom positions as possible and to change the manner in which they support the school sites,” she added. “The focus will be on supporting teachers.” 

The district also sent layoff notifications to 59 certificated administrators. Additional notices will be issued to classified administrative staff on April 21.

“While the district may be compelled to consider layoffs,” said Ali, “I shall not support any reductions that do not include reducing administrators at the outset.”

Criteria that was established for the order of layoffs was based on seniority in most cases. A particular kind of services list indicated positions the district wanted to maintain. This, wrote Burnside, will allow the district to keep certain positions — like science, math and special education teachers — without abiding strictly by seniority rules.

“Our options, like those of other similarly situated school districts, reflect the current economic crisis of our country,” said CUSD board member Joel Estrada. “However, if we are to survive this, all parties must work together, maintain transparency, think outside the box, and, borrowing from President Obama, truly rethink how we educate our children. … It will not be easy.”