Those big yellow school buses might become less of a familiar sight when students return to San Marcos Unified School District after a summer off.
It would mean that about 2,000 elementary and middle school students who regularly take the district's buses could be without rides to and from school.
The school board will vote Monday night on whether to issue pink slips to 29 full-time and part-time bus drivers who transport general-education students between home and school. Transporting students with special needs is mandated and no cuts are being proposed for that service.
District officials are dealing with a projected $9.1 million budget deficit for the next school year, and for the past few months they have been figuring out how to tighten expenses and where they could make cuts.
The proposed cuts are in response to anticipated state budget cuts.
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School board meeting
When: 6:30 p.m. Monday
Where: San Marcos Unified School District offices, 255 Pico St.
Agenda: Issuing pink slips to more than 70 classified employees, including bus drivers and instructional aides; opening negotiations with the two employee unions; and changing the 2008-09 school calendar.
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On Monday, the school board will also vote on issuing layoff notices to more than 40 other full-time and part-time classified employees, including instructional aides, custodians and the district's manager of grants and communication.
Some employees will likely be able to move into other jobs, said Len Judd, the district's assistant superintendent of human resources. But the other proposed layoffs would save the district more than $1 million, he said.
In recent months, bus drivers have told the board how safe school bus driving records are, how fewer buses would increase traffic congestion around schools and how student attendance could decline if students can't get rides.
The school board will also consider:
Delaying the start of the school year, saving about $230,000. School is expected to start Sept. 2, the day after Labor Day. The teachers union has approved the proposed change.
Reducing the work schedule of 34 child nutrition services employees who work as assistants and cashiers by two days a year, saving about $3,600.
Opening negotiations between the district and its unions. The public will be able to comment on the issue before the board adopts the initial proposals.
The district wants to negotiate hours of employment, salary, benefits and the length of a new contract's duration with the classified employees' union. The union is proposing to negotiate benefits only.
The district wants to negotiate salary, benefits, the work year calendar and how long a new contract would last with the teachers' union.
The teachers union is requesting a three-year contract and wants to keep the long-standing salary formula. Under the contract formula, the annual salaries of teachers and other certificated employees in San Marcos Unified must rank fourth out of the county's 11 unified school districts.
Linda Lou: (760) 737-7574; linda.lou@uniontrib.com
