GILBERT, Ariz. (AP) - A metro Phoenix school district has laid off 152 teachers and other employees next year, citing low student enrollment amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Gilbert Public Schools employees were notified on Friday by email that the district implemented “a necessary reduction in force” because of “loss of student enrollment.”
“Gilbert Public Schools, along with many other school districts, faces a reduced number of students going into the next school year following the global pandemic,” the district said. “We continue to make every effort to increase enrollment for next year and it is our hope that many students lost during this pandemic will return to our schools over the next year.”
Gilbert Public Schools includes 40 schools in the communities of Gilbert, Chandler and Mesa that serve about 33,000 K-12 students.
District spokesperson Dawn Antestenis told The Arizona Republic in an email Monday that the district lost 1,600 students because of the pandemic.
The district had about 34,500 students during the 2019-2020 school year, according to data from the state Department of Education. It had 34,200 during the 2018-2019 school year and 33,300 during the 2017-2018 school year.
Antestenis did not say which employees were laid off, what the criteria was and how teachers were notified, adding that those questions would be addressed at a school district governing board meeting Tuesday night.
The Arizona Education Association teachers union said the organization “stands in solidarity” with its Gilbert chapter and with the educators who were laid off.
“It is disappointing that the district has decided to sever the employment of these teachers who have dedicated their careers to educating our students and risked their health and lives to work during the pandemic,” the association said in a statement.
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