Late Retirement Announcement Saves Some Farallone View Teachers from Being Displaced

A last-minute retirement announcement has made it possible to minimize staff restructuring at Farallone View Elementary School for the 2011-2012 school year.

Kate Livingston, scheduled to teach second grade at Farallone View next fall, announced on June 7 that she would be retiring, helping to keep two teachers in place who were slated to be moved to other district elementary school sites, according to John Corry, Director of Pupil/Personnel Services.

 Amy Rhodes, who had been fated to move to another yet-to-be determined school site, will now be able to remain at Farallone View as a fifth grade teacher next fall, while Jenny Scapachi will also stay on with the school as a literacy coach.

Corry explained that when the district made the decision last month to increase kindergarten through third grade class sizes from 20 to 24 students per class, they had to “involuntarily transfer three teachers from Farallone View to other elementary school sites.”

With Livingston’s retirement, the amount of staff displacement has been reduced, with only one teacher, Thea Wallach, having to leave Farallone View rather than the scheduled three. Wallach will teach first grade at next fall, Corry said.

In addition to being able to keep two more teachers on site, the school will retain teacher Kelly Farnsworth at second grade instead of moving her to fifth grade as planned, keeping in tact their “looping” program, where students in mixed grade level classes remain with the same teacher for two years.

Corry aptly described the reconfiguration within the school, and the district as a whole, as “a big puzzle coming into shape.”

The “puzzle” the district is now piecing together comes as a result of its current $1.5 million structural deficit in the budget, forcing the increase in class size and the chain reaction it required. Like many school districts across California which are currently facing budget shortfalls, also found itself having to issue eleven layoff notices to employees this spring to reconcile the deficit, including one to Farallone View principal Pamela Gire, who will not return to helm the school next fall.

Filling the role of principal will be Dr. Elizabeth Schuck, Cabrillo’s current Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction. Schuck, who had previously worked as an elementary school principal in Southern California, will act as principal while maintaining duties as assistant superintendent in a joint effort between district administrators.

Schuck has previously stated that she, along with school board president John Moseley and superintendent Robert Gaskill, will work together to ensure that one of them is always on site at Farallone View.