KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The Kelseyville Unified School District Board on Tuesday will consider voting on a plan to use unanticipated state funding to restore several eliminated classified positions.

The board will hold a regular meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 16, in the board room at the school district's office, located at 4410 Konocti Road.

The school district, which for 2011-12 has a budget of $13.6 million in revenues and $13.5 million in expenditures, has been put into “qualified status” by the state because of concerns that it might not meet its financial obligations.

Earlier this year the district had to craft a financial recovery plan that included the board identifying nearly $2.3 million in cuts from the next two fiscal years, as Lake County News has reported.

Holley Luia, president of the district's chapter of the California School Employees Association, said 21 classified positions were lost due to the layoffs, including her job as a secretary at Kelseyville High School.

However, the district recently got some good news – that it was receiving $401,955 in revenue from the state that it hadn't expected for Riviera High School, which is a necessary small high school, according to district documents.

At a special Aug. 9 meeting, the board held an initial discussion on how to distribute those funds, and concluded on a plan to reestablish several positions that had been laid off earlier this year, according to

Superintendent David McQueen, who made the proposal to the board.

McQueen said the expectation of not having that money had contributed to the layoffs.

He said the state agreed to provide the funding for fiscal years 2010-11 and 2011-12. McQueen credited Lake County Superintendent of Schools Wally Holbrook with being instrumental in working with the state to acquire the funds.

Board Trustee Gary Olson said the Aug. 9 meeting was encouraging in that they could consider restoring some people's jobs.

The proposed classified position restorations that will go to the board on Tuesday, based on a report to the board from district Chief Financial Officer Tiffany Kemp, include two full-time secretary positions – one at Kelseyville High and one shared between Kelseyville Elementary and Mt. Vista Middle School; one half-time secretary at Riviera Elementary School; one full-time custodian at Kelseyville High; one half-time custodian at Riviera Elementary; and one half-time account clerk in the district office.

If the board approves the plan on Tuesday, Luia will get her job back at Kelseyville High School, which is a welcome piece of news.

“It's been a long depressing summer, I'm not going to lie,” Luia said.

However, while Luia was glad to hear about the jobs being added back – she called it a “good first step” – she pointed out that the number of jobs is small compared to the 21 lost earlier in the year.

Until custodial and other positions are restored, Luia expects to see a huge impact on schools and students. “There's room for improvement in what's happening here,” she said.

Luia pointed out that many teachers have been getting layoff notices in March on an annual basis, having to wait to find out if their jobs are being restored.

She said she doesn't want to see that process repeated with the classified employees.

“It's really no way to live through the summer,” she said.

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