School District Workers Circulating Petition
LA QUINTA – On Thursday classified employees of the Desert Sands Unified School District started to circulate a petition to dissolve the three-person Personnel Commission.
Thecommission is responsible for the treatment of classified employees. Classified employees are cafeteria workers, landscapers, bus drivers, etc. The group says the board isn’t needed and by eliminating them, the District could save $250,000.
Due to budget cuts, the Desert Sands Unified School District could likely see close to 150 layoffs of teachers. The District is planning on losing $15 million in the next year.
Over the last three years, Desert Sands Unified School District is down about $32 million. The district has until March 15th to handout official layoff notices.
The classified employees will need 40% of the total number of classified workers, which is about 1000. Then it will go to a vote by all classified employees, with the majority winning.
The Personnel Commission said Thursday night during its meeting that they are the board that protects workers from unfair punishments and political attacks. Commission Chair Tina A. Godecke said she’s shocked that the workers want this and she hopes they know what it means to them. She went onto says how the commission is there to protect the workers.
