The Turlock Unified School District Board of Trustees unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday night to release 17 teachers who were hired on temporary, one-year contracts.

TUSD Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Heidi Lawler explained that the district hired the teachers on a temporary basis for fill-in positions, or as instructional coaches for one-year assignments.

“These are not layoffs, these are merely releases of those employees who have agreed to a temporary contract for that school year, she said. “None of these teachers were on probation. Teachers were aware when they signed the contract they were temporary (employees).”

This group of 17 temporary teachers will be released at the end of the school year. Both temporary and probationary teachers can be released, laid off or terminated at any time based on either budgetary constraints or performance.

2015 Budget Looks Positive

The board also received a mid-year budget update from Assistant Superintendent of Fiscal Services Lori Decker.

The district is in satisfactory financial health and it expects to receive about four percent more money next school year under the new Local Control Funding Formula. In addition, the budget includes a 9.37 percent reserve fund.

Much of the update centered around the LCFF and how this new system will give districts more freedom to make choices in how they spend their money. Previously much of the funding was tied to categorical funding, in which the district had to spend the money on certain programs. Under LCFF money comes in a lump sum which can be spent more freely.

The state will still set goals for districts, but many of the accountability measures under LCFF and Common Core will now be left to individual districts.