October 27, 2011
VOL. 126, ISSUE 2
50¢
Ramona Sentinel
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THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 2012
Inside
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School trustees brace for the worst Preliminary layoffs affect 22 teaching jobs, other workers agree to three furlough days By MAUREEN ROBERTSON Ramona school trustees have been told to prepare for the worst, and that’s what they’re doing. As one of seven school districts in the county on the state’s “qualified” list, Ramona
Unified, based on budget projections, will not be able to pay all of its bills starting next year. “The deep cuts made to school funding—and looming uncertainties about the future—are driving school districts to the
brink of insolvency,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said last week. Following the county Office of Education directive to prepare a budget with the assumption that proposed tax hikes on the November ballot will not pass, Asst. Supt. David Ostermann said the district has a projected deficit of
$6.5 million for 2012-13. In January, the trustees voted to lay off 15 people working in nonteaching jobs; last month they directed district administrators to bring them proposals to reduce staff, including teachers and support workers, and to reduce or eliminate hometo-school transportation. Special education students
Trivia Bee The room was packed, the food and wine received rave reviews, and Team 1 won first prize.......................20
See BUDGET on page 12
Jacob coffee covers local, global topics By KAREN BRAINARD
Index
Presorted Standard US Postage PAID Ramona CA Permit No 136
Our Town.....................7 Editorial.......................8 Worship Directory......10 Wine Guide...............19 Sports........................22 Classifieds.................27 Obituaries.................34
Sentintl photo/Maureen Robertson
HISTORIC UNVEILING—Brothers Dan and Phil Parker unveil the portraits of their great-great-grandparents Martha and Augustus Barnett, Ramona Town Hall benefactors, during a celebration of Town Hall’s 118th birthday and the re-opening of the hall’s West Wing. For more photos of the Sunday afternoon celebration, see page 21.
425-A 10th Street Ramona, CA 92065
would not be affected. In a special meeting on Monday, trustees approved recommendations to give preliminary layoff notices to 28 teachers. State law requires school districts to give preliminary notices to teachers by March 15 and final notices by May 15. As a result of attrition,
The United Nations’ Agenda 21 plan, the county’s Red Tape Reduction Task Force, and a bridge for 13th Street were among topics at County Supervisor Dianne Jacob’s “Coffee with the Constituents” last Thursday morning. Held in the Barnett Barn at the Guy B. Woodward Museum, the coffee drew about 50 people. Discussions on Agenda 21, a plan to take action on human impacts on the environment at the global, national and local levels, have been cropping up in local meetings and emails. Resident John Selck asked Jacob how local planning ideas and concepts relate to the UN plan that was implemented at an Earth Summit in Rio de Janiero in 1992 and signed See COFFEE on page 35