With a state deadline looming, several of Delaware's school districts have recently laid off staff and decided not to fill vacant positions as they await the final verdict on statewide education cuts.

In Appoquinimink, the 22 layoffs happened in quiet, private conversations between each building's principal and the selected members of their staff.

Conciliatory emails went out en masse, to teachers, parents and staff.

"This was one of the most difficult days I’ve faced in my 15-plus years as an educator," Appoquinimink Superintendent Matt Burrows said in one of those messages. "Across the district and around the state, teaching staff are coming face-to-face with the cold reality of the governor’s proposed funding cuts to education."

Gov. John Carney says the education cuts are necessary in the face of a nearly $400 million statewide budget deficit and it was never his intention for schools to reduce staffing levels. Schools will have the option to raise taxes, without a referendum, to help recoup some of the money, under Carney's plan.

The budget still must get passed by the General Assembly, something that likely won't happen until the end of June. School districts have only until this Monday to send layoff notices.

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That's one of the reasons emotions were running high at school districts across the state this past week — pink slips went out to teachers and staff at several of Delaware's school districts. Some of those layoffs could later be recalled, but there's no guarantee staff will return or get back their original positions. It is expected many of them will seek other employment in the meantime.

"It's a very tough situation," said Frederika Jenner, president of Delaware's largest education union, the Delaware State Education Association. "I am aware a number of our educators who have already been notified feel very, very badly about the situation they find themselves in."

A necessary evil?

No one's denying that budget cuts are necessary. John Marinucci, executive director of the Delaware School Boards Association, wanted to make that clear.

"We understand fully there is a reduction in state revenue and there's a budget issue being dealt with right now," he said. "It's a very unfortunate position we're in."

But he and other educators can see no way to accommodate the cuts without laying off staff, something the governor's office says should be possible.

"These are extremely modest cuts in the scheme of things, and other Cabinet agencies are being cut a lot more," Carney said late last month. "All we're asking is that our school boards do a little more to run a little more efficiently."

The cuts are 1.5 percent of the state's $1.37 billion public school budget, the governor noted. About $15 million of the cuts will come straight from school districts' operational funds, money that generally isn't used to pay teachers but covers training, technology and other administrative costs.

An additional $22 million will come from the "education sustainment fund," which is used for a much wider range of services like math and reading specialists, after-school programming and paying staff salaries over the summer before tax receipts come in.

Carney's plan would allow districts to make up the $22 million cut by giving school districts a one-time shot at raising property taxes – without asking their voters in a referendum. It would need the approval of the General Assembly.

That would leave only a $15 million cut spread over the entire system, the governor reasons.

But educators says that's an over-simplified view of how things will play out.

For one thing, there's that Monday deadline, Marinucci said.

"School boards are bound statutorily," he said. "The Delaware Code says if a teacher's contract is not going to be renewed, the teacher has to be informed by May 15."

For another, the majority of school districts' money goes to personnel costs. To reduce programs means reducing staff, Marinucci said. Other discretionary costs — like paper, energy, office equipment, etc. — are already at a minimum and in many cases, can't be reduced any further.

"Buildings need to stay open," Marinucci said. "It takes electricity and fuel to keep them going."

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"When you look at the amount of discretionary, non-committed dollars (...) it's not that significant. There's not that much available to cut, quite frankly."

And there's another factor at play, which has not been discussed as openly.

Schools are expected to pay a certain share of their staff's salaries using local funds — funds raised in the form of referendums. But instead, many districts have dipped into the education sustainment fund to keep staff on board — something the governor's office says they shouldn't be doing.

That means they don't have to go to a referendum every time there's an increase in inflation — unlike many states, Delaware does not automatically adjust school taxes for inflation, which means everytime the costs of things like fuel and electricity go up, the money a district gets from property taxes buys less and less. In turn, funds for other things, like educational programs or paraprofessionals, have to come from somewhere else unless and until the district can pass another tax increase.

This has locked some Delaware school districts into a pattern of deficit spending.

Pink slips go out

That's the situation in which the Colonial School District, which failed to pass a referendum in February, now finds itself.

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If a second referendum — to be held June 6 — fails, the district will be forced to make massive cuts and layoffs, administrators say.

In preparation for the worst-case scenario, the school board approved laying off 175 employees.

"It's emotional," Superintendent Dusty Blakey said, adding that it's the largest round of layoffs he's ever overseen. "Because, as you know, by Monday, all of our teacher groups need to know what their positions are for next year."

The district employs a little over 1,400 people, Blakely said, which could mean almost a 12 percent reduction in force.

The earliest staff can be recalled is June 7.

"This really could play out all summer long," Blakey said. "If (staff) are out looking and they've accepted another position, that creates conflict."

If the district's financials don't improve, Blakey said students can expect larger class sizes and fewer after-school activities like clubs and sports.

In the Christina district, there will be similar impacts. There, the school board recently voted to eliminate 77 academic positions, as well as eliminating the district's athletic and music/art funds. Some positions will be eliminated through retirements and the nonrenewal of contracts.

They're also planning for the worst-case scenario: $5.9 million in reductions.

The school board said it struggled with the decision to make layoffs and on Wednesday also passed a resolution saying it would urge state legislators to reject the governor's plan, something board member John Young sees as a usurpation of taxpayers rights.

Young admitted that the resolution he drafted may have little impact.

"I'm not delusional about the symbolic nature of it," he said, adding that he could not commit to voting down a match tax, especially with school programming and jobs at stake.

Red Clay Consolidated School District is cutting about 15 positions and will leave 10 vacant positions unfilled until the budget picture becomes clearer.

"The district is cutting central office budgets, has eliminated out of state travel for staff and is making other programmatic cuts to try and minimize the direct impact on schools and number of people who lose their jobs," spokesperson Pati Nash said in an email.

The Brandywine School District is not making any layoffs. Any staff reductions there will be by attrition, or not filling vacant positions.

In a blog post, Superintendent Mark Holodick and Chief Financial Officer Jason Hale said the following: "With the anticipated cut in state funding, some belt tightening and tough decision making will need to occur. Thanks to last year’s successful referendum and careful and deliberate planning by our District Finance Committee (DFC) and School Board, Brandywine is in a better position than some school districts; however, the looming state cuts will definitely have an impact."

Indian River is reviewing how many paraprofessionals it has on staff. Layoff notices for those positions do not need to go out before Monday, so the decision has been put off until May 22.

Capital School District is not planning on layoffs either. According to Superintendent Dan Shelton: “The board voted to protect positions during the budget process. The proposed budget will be presented to the board in June. The district will attempt to carve $1.4 million dollars out of this year’s budget and will use at least $790,000 of carryover funds to protect positions. The district has had an attrition rate of 75 teachers each of the last two years. This allowed the district to not propose a (reduction in force) this year although as the budget process continues, there may be vacant positions that we are not able to fill.”

Salisbury Daily Times reporter Gray Hughes contributed to this story. Contact Jessica Bies at (302) 324-2881 or jbies@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @jessicajbies.