CA District May Lose 40 Librarians

Up to 40 school librarians in the San Diego Unified School District are bracing for the most sweeping layoffs in recent history. In preparation for next year's $150 million budget shortfall, the city's school board plans to send out layoff notices by March 15 to 1,274 teachers, including all of the district's certified media specialists.

Although the city had a $75 million shortfall this school year, it was able to avoid laying off teachers by axing 240 nonteaching jobs, but librarians might not be as lucky next year. "I've never seen it this bad," says Steve Grant, a library media specialist at La Jolla High School. "It would appear that we're considered nonessentials. They don't understand that library media specialists provide library media programming, and they don't understand our impact on student achievement."

Steven Baratte, a district spokesman, says that by state law, school districts must send out layoff notices by March 15, and that the high number of notices are a precautionary measure to ensure that the district has the flexibility to eliminate positions in the coming year. Seniority will ultimately determine who will keep their jobs.

Since California doesn't require certified library media specialists for K–12 schools, Grant and his colleagues aren't leaving anything to chance. He and 15 other school librarians have already drafted talking points and press releases in preparation for the media exposure they hope to receive. The librarians have also e-mailed 600 parents asking them to lobby on their behalf by writing to school board members. At press time, the school board was to meet on February 25.