Mayberry Elementary's 'Cat in the Hat' Could Lose Job

Avina had received a pink slip about a possible layoff as the United Teachers of Los Angeles union negotiated a budget with the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Avina survived that storm. But now there's another brewing. Mayberry sent out an urgent notice Friday, excerpted here:

"We are calling on you today to please take action and take a stand!
 
"At Mayberry we need 6 new student enrollments to meet NORM DAY requirements.  If by next week, Oct. 5th we don't have these 6 students (K-3rd) then we lose Mr. Avina, 6th grade teacher.

"That's not all! It will also have a domino effect in all grade levels and most would be forced to become split classes to meet the numbers. We can't permit this mass disruption for our children and fine teachers. Our students are not just numbers that you pack into a classroom! LAUSD promised that Mayberry would not be affected with a new school less than a mile away!  We have already lost 2 of our fine teachers due to enrollment... NO MORE!!
 
"PLEASE EMAIL OR CALL THE DECISION MAKERS THAT CAN STEP UP AND STOP THIS FROM HAPPENING.

Important phone numbers and contact information:
Mónica García, Board President, Board District 2: monica.garcia@lausd.net, 213-241-6180, Fax 213-241-8459
Bennett Kayser, Board Member, District 5: bennett.kayser@lausd.net, 213-241-5555
Dale Vigil, Local District 4, Superintendent: dale.vigil@lausd.net, (213) 241-0100
John Deasy, LAUSD Superintendent: john.deasy@lausd.net, 213-241-7000

Several Mayberry parents have already reached out on Avina's behalf, including Maritza Maldonado:

Mr. Avina has always gone above and beyond his teacher duties to make Mayberry the wonderful place that it is. Year after year he has volunteered to bring our Dr. Seuss night to life by dressing up as The Cat in The Hat. He has also volunteered his precious time to form an after school drama club and put on exceptional productions for our students and parents.

Paula Barragan-Ortega also wrote in:

For the past 5 years parents have been organizing to make Mayberry a safe and stable place for our children. Even when a new elementary school with all new technological abilities and support has been built less than a mile away from us, parents and teachers have not stopped working hard to give our students the confidence that our school is no less than the new charter and that neither are they.

Displacing Mr. Avina will bring down student and parent moral. Almost all our grades becoming splits to meet number requirements will have a great impact on the dynamic of the classroom and will also impact teaching quality.

Avina told Echo Park Patch that he won’t lose his job entirely – he’d be transferred to another school.  But he did agree that it would be unfair to have another teacher—who’d already prepared to teach a lower grade—take over his class.

He also noted in an email that:

According to UTLA, the district recently found $55 million dollars in their books, which could easily be used to grant waivers to some schools and rehire teachers, but thus far, the district is making the choice not to do that.

We will keep you posted.