Controversial plan to lay off teachers, increase class size drew crowd in San Bruno

SAN BRUNO, Calif. (KTVU) - A controversial proposal to lay off teachers and increase class sizes drew a big crowd to San Bruno, so big that Wednesday's school board meeting was abruptly canceled.

"It just feels like it's getting to be an unsafe space," said San Bruno Park School District board president Kevin Martinez when he announced the meeting was being rescheduled.

Dozens of teachers and parents packed the meeting room planning to voice their frustrations with the proposals up for consideration.

The district faces a $2.1 Million deficit for the 2015-2016 school year, said Superintendent David Hutt.

"The district is having to live within its means," he said. "It's really having to size itself correctly going forward."

Hutt said there have been a number of proposals over the years to put the district on better financial footing, including school closures and a parcel tax that failed.

As a result, the school board is looking at laying off 14 teachers and increasing class sizes to 31 students.

"There is a huge problem here," said 9 year teacher and union president of the San Bruno Education Association, Julia Maynard.

She told KTVU for years the district has been relying on borrowed money that has now run dry.

"If they've continued to deficit spend and they were pulling out of a pot of money and they weren't putting more money into that pot, where did we think this was going to go?" Maynard said.

Maynard and others plan to show up at next Wednesday's meeting at Parkside Middle School, when the board will take up the district's financial future.