Nearly a third of Salem-Keizer Public Schools employees terminated or reassigned

About 1,600 Salem-Keizer School District employees received either a pink slip or job reassignment by email Friday morning.

That’s 31% of the district’s workforce, district officials said.

The number of people laid off totaled 112, less than the 400 Superintendent Andrea Castañeda estimated five weeks ago.

That’s because some employees have since notified the district they plan to resign or retire at the end of the year, district spokesman Aaron Harada said. Their positions still are being eliminated.

Additional staff will be impacted by a partial layoff, or reduction in hours, Harada said.

The number of people assigned a new role or moved to a different building or department was more than expected, at about 1,488 people, officials said Friday afternoon.

About 14% of the district’s workforce, will move to a new building or department, they said.

The moves and job changes are mainly a result of “bumping,” where laid-off workers with more seniority can take certain other positions.

“We do not get to choose who is impacted, it is determined by employment seniority, certification, and other similar factors and they are controlled by state law and bargaining agreements,” Harada said.

More of shifting could still take place due to role changes that normally take place each year, he said. For example, a first-grade teacher could be assigned to teach second grade, depending on class needs.

Harada was unable to say Friday morning what percentage of the role changes were due exclusively to the layoffs.

Layoff and reassignment conducted by email

Officials made the decision to conduct the layoff and reassignment by email after consulting with staff and the district’s unions, Harada said.

“Most staff who shared their opinion did not want to have to wait anxiously for hours for an in-person meeting,” Harada said. “Though imperfect, we believe that many staff prefer this approach because it allows them to learn about their future at a time and in a place of their choosing.”

Affected employees have the option of scheduling a meeting with their administrator to ask questions and receive more details about the changes to their position.

The district took the rare step of closing buildings to students for the day Friday.

Employees still were expected to go to work, unless they requested leave. Many did so, Harada said.

Staff also were allowed to work remotely if eligible, he said.

Neither ASK-ESP nor the Salem Keizer Education Association responded to the Statesman Journal’s interview requests earlier this week.

ASK-ESP represents about 2,800 district support staff. SKEA represents about 2,300 teachers and other educators.

Why are Salem-Keizer School District employees being laid off?

On April 11, Superintendent Andrea Castañeda announced that about 400 employees would be laid off to help address an anticipated budget shortfall.

She said the layoffs would reduce district administrators by 13.1%, teachers by 8.8%, school-based administrators by 4.9% and classified staff by 4.9%.

Castañeda had warned for months that layoffs would be necessary to address a significant budget shortfall.

Despite getting a record amount of money from the state in this year's legislative session, decreasing enrollment, increases in staff and the end of federal COVID-19 relief funds created the shortfall, Castañeda has said.

“We are facing serious fiscal challenges. We’ve taken responsibility for our district’s financial health and are making painful but necessary reductions,” Harada said.

“Every single one of those positions is a painful loss to the individual who holds it and to our school community as a whole,” he said.

Salem-Keizer is Oregon’s second-largest school district, after Portland Public Schools. It has about 38,185 students across its 65 elementary, middle and high schools.

Tracy Loew covers education at the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions and tips: tloew@statesmanjournal.com or 503-399-6779. Follow her on Twitter at @Tracy_Loew

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Salem-Keizer Public Schools terminates or reassigns a third of workers