Tucson Unified School District is recalling some teachers and staff members it laid off last month. A total of 72 workers are getting back on the district’s payroll.TUSD let 187 employees go to cope with a $17 million budget shortfall, but cuts in other areas of the district have allowed officials to hire back almost six dozen teachers and other employees.
Frances Banales is President of the Tucson Education Association, the union that represents 4,000 TUSD employees. She said the district should have done more to ensure laid off teachers got first dibs on the open positions.
“I think we could have done replacements before we did external interviews for some positions and so I’m not happy with that. I think that we need to value our employees and do whatever we can to ensure that they are placed first because except for no fault except for the budget were they laid off," Banales said.
Last December, TUSD’s governing board approved a plan to close 11 schools this summer to cut costs, but many of the teachers and staff at the closing schools were able to find new jobs within the district.