Before their meeting on Wednesday, the Amador County Unified School District Board of Trustees toured a new building at Ione Jr. High School. As wonderful as this new building is, it leaves me wondering about how they — the school board — intends to maintain it. They recently sent the entire maintenance department packing when they laid them all off.
The Ledger-Dispatch reports that the new building cost $5 million, paid with developer fees and state funds. While it is likely the money could only be used for this purpose, it sends the wrong message to the community to be constructing buildings and at the same time laying off the people needed to maintain them.
“In the district, our buildings are fairly antiquated,” said Dr. Bill Murray, the schools principal.
The oldest building on campus was built in 1903. It was the original schoolhouse and is still in use, he said. In fact, classes were held there until earlier this school year. The school’s parents’ club has since raised $3,500 to renovate the building’s interior. The two-room schoolhouse will be ready for use as a library and media center by the beginning of next school year.
And just who does the district think is going to maintain these new buildings and protect the district’s investment? They see no problem with contracting out the work, in spite of the fact that they have employees on re-hire list who, according to California law, must be re-employed.
The students at Ione Jr. High School will benefit greatly from the new building. It is wonderful that the district was able to find a way to provide it to them. Now it is time for the school board to make sure that this investment in the future of our children has a future itself. The school board must rescind the layoff notices and hire back the maintenance employees and assure our children that they will have a safe and secure environment in which to spend the bulk of their day. It cannot be done through illegal maneuvers such as contracting out work previously done by laid off workers, or hiring back workers at inferior pay and reduced benefits. They must be hired back under the laws of the state of California.
What can the community do to hold their elected leaders accountable. Start with a letter, as called for in my earlier post. If there is no satisfactory response, and in light of the illegality of their actions, ultimately a recall may be in order.
