Whether or not the May revise of the state budget will help education at all remains to be seen ... but the facts are that several Escalon Unified School District employees are still holding pink slips.
Staff members put together an informational campaign over the past week, part of an overall 'State of Emergency' educational effort to get their message out about the cuts and how they will impact kids.
Escalon is not unique in that position; nearly all schools are facing staff layoffs and funding cuts from the state but in Escalon, there is a double-edged sword. State funds are being lost and enrollment is going down.
Flyers in car windows at several campus locations throughout the district last week had information on the 'state of emergency' indicating class sizes could go up to as many as 40 students per teacher and encouraging parents to get involved by contacting legislators in hopes of getting some funding restored for schools.
"It got a lot of teachers involved that normally sit on the sidelines," said Escalon Unified Teachers Association President Ray Roncale. "Looking at the Governor's budget revise today (Monday), there's some indication that the funding is a little bit more than was expected in January, but we really don't know yet."
Roncale said one of the issues for the local school board is that they often have to make budget decisions with the best available information from the state, though it is subject to change later.
School District Superintendent Ron Costa said he supported the teachers in their effort to get information out to the public and said both he and the board are hoping at least some of the 23 pink slips issued can be recalled.
"Ron keeps us abreast of what he thinks he and the board are going to do," Roncale said, noting that the communication lines are open.
Still, the picture is not the best.
"Whether it be teachers, classified staff, administrators, we all believe the same thing ... the possible cuts to education are going to be devastating to all school districts, including Escalon," Costa said.
The Governor's May revise was released Monday, Costa will be attending a forum on that revise on Friday, May 20 in Sacramento and hopes to have a better idea of where Escalon stands after that session.
"Right now, the county office of education has directed all districts (in San Joaquin County) to start preparing their budgets, planning for a $350 per student cut in revenue," explained Costa. "With our enrollment ... we're looking at over a $1 million loss."
Roncale added that enrollment trends in the district are going down and that also will be problematic unless the district starts seeing a turnaround, an upswing, in the housing market that will bring more students in to the district.
"It's kind of like double jeopardy, enrollment is really hitting us hard," Roncale said.
Staff members put together an informational campaign over the past week, part of an overall 'State of Emergency' educational effort to get their message out about the cuts and how they will impact kids.
Escalon is not unique in that position; nearly all schools are facing staff layoffs and funding cuts from the state but in Escalon, there is a double-edged sword. State funds are being lost and enrollment is going down.
Flyers in car windows at several campus locations throughout the district last week had information on the 'state of emergency' indicating class sizes could go up to as many as 40 students per teacher and encouraging parents to get involved by contacting legislators in hopes of getting some funding restored for schools.
"It got a lot of teachers involved that normally sit on the sidelines," said Escalon Unified Teachers Association President Ray Roncale. "Looking at the Governor's budget revise today (Monday), there's some indication that the funding is a little bit more than was expected in January, but we really don't know yet."
Roncale said one of the issues for the local school board is that they often have to make budget decisions with the best available information from the state, though it is subject to change later.
School District Superintendent Ron Costa said he supported the teachers in their effort to get information out to the public and said both he and the board are hoping at least some of the 23 pink slips issued can be recalled.
"Ron keeps us abreast of what he thinks he and the board are going to do," Roncale said, noting that the communication lines are open.
Still, the picture is not the best.
"Whether it be teachers, classified staff, administrators, we all believe the same thing ... the possible cuts to education are going to be devastating to all school districts, including Escalon," Costa said.
The Governor's May revise was released Monday, Costa will be attending a forum on that revise on Friday, May 20 in Sacramento and hopes to have a better idea of where Escalon stands after that session.
"Right now, the county office of education has directed all districts (in San Joaquin County) to start preparing their budgets, planning for a $350 per student cut in revenue," explained Costa. "With our enrollment ... we're looking at over a $1 million loss."
Roncale added that enrollment trends in the district are going down and that also will be problematic unless the district starts seeing a turnaround, an upswing, in the housing market that will bring more students in to the district.
"It's kind of like double jeopardy, enrollment is really hitting us hard," Roncale said.
