GILROY
– Two high school agricultural science teachers have received
layoff notices from Gilroy Unified School District for the 2003-04
school year, sending the ag community into a frenzy and leaving
questions unanswered as to the future of the blossoming
program.
Students and parents of the local Future Farmers of America
– the national organization complementing ag curriculum – plan
to turn out in force at the regular school board meeting
tonight.
”
Our fear is that this is the end of a program we believe is
worthwhile fighting for,
”
said David Duarte, one of the full-time ag science teachers at
GHS.
”
Teachers may come and go, but we want to make sure the program
is around for a long time.
”
Despite increasing ag science enrollment from 150 to 240 kids
this year and tripling the amount of state awards its students
receive, Duarte and fellow ag teacher Sabrina Olivas-Henry
apparently won’t be rehired by Gilroy Unified School District next
year. Part-time ag science teacher Adam Gemar would likely receive
a layoff notice after school lets out in June, Duarte said.
GILROY – Two high school agricultural science teachers have received layoff notices from Gilroy Unified School District for the 2003-04 school year, sending the ag community into a frenzy and leaving questions unanswered as to the future of the blossoming program.
Students and parents of the local Future Farmers of America – the national organization complementing ag curriculum – plan to turn out in force at the regular school board meeting tonight.
“Our fear is that this is the end of a program we believe is worthwhile fighting for,” said David Duarte, one of the full-time ag science teachers at GHS. “Teachers may come and go, but we want to make sure the program is around for a long time.”
Despite increasing ag science enrollment from 150 to 240 kids this year and tripling the amount of state awards its students receive, Duarte and fellow ag teacher Sabrina Olivas-Henry apparently won’t be rehired by Gilroy Unified School District next year. Part-time ag science teacher Adam Gemar would likely receive a layoff notice after school lets out in June, Duarte said.
GHS Principal Bob Bravo would not comment on the layoffs in detail, calling them a “human resources and personnel matter.” Bravo referred inquiries to Linda Piceno, the district’s assistant superintendent of human resources, but she did not return phone calls before deadline.
“What I can tell you is that if kids sign up for ag science next year, we will have a teacher there for them,” Bravo said. “We have no intention of ending the ag science program.”
GUSD must hire a credentialed ag teacher to run its vocational program, in order to be recognized by the FFA. Filling that position is made more difficult given California’s $35 billion revenue shortfall.
Already, the district is pushing a budget-crunching proposal to cut 45 teaching and managerial positions, which is slated for board approval tonight. The district hopes to rehire at least a third of those positions, but the ag science cuts are not included on that list, Bravo said.
When asked if that meant the ag science staff was being fired, Bravo again declined to comment. The first-year principal also would not say if he was happy with the job his ag science staff was doing.
FFA parent Marcia Linden is happy.
Linden has seen two of her children pass through the ag science and FFA program, which she says gave them the confidence – and $9,500 in scholarship money – to pursue a college education. A third child, who won a prestigious state-level award this year, is a junior in the program now.
“Mr. Duarte has done a lot for this program. He introduced a welding class this year and got some UC-approved science classes into the curriculum,” Linden said. “These teachers are even getting school bus licenses so it’s easier to transport kids to all their competitions. They are so committed and now we may be losing these young, innovative teachers.”
Gilroy was only the 12th FFA chapter to be established in California. The program is in its 75th year locally.
FFA students attend upward of 50 conferences and competitions on regional and statewide levels each year. The events hone the skills of ag students and provide valuable experience in farming, record keeping and leadership, among other things.
FFA’s mission involves character development, community involvement and awareness of the importance of agriculture in society.
The sudden layoffs is not the first scare this year for FFA supporters.
At the beginning of the school year, then state Superintendent Delaine Eastin directed the FFA’s regional supervisors to leave their local consulting roles and move to Sacramento. Eastin said the manpower was needed at the state capital due to limited budget resources.
FFA supporters locally and statewide called the decision the beginning of the end for large scale conferences and competitions that are the bread and butter of the ag educational experience. When Jack O’Connell took over for Eastin in November, the regional supervisors were redirected to their local posts.
