Darleene Barrientos
Glendale Community College trustees unanimously rescinded a layoff
notice Wednesday for four faculty members working in the school's
aviation mechanics program.
Instead, two of the instructors in the program will retire, a
third will resign with a severance package and a fourth, Scott Rubke,
will be reassigned to the college's pilot training program, college
Supt. President John Davitt said.
The decision came during a special meeting at the college.
Following through with the layoff notices issued when the aviation
mechanics program was cut last month would have meant high legal fees
for defending the layoffs.
"If the hearing would have taken place, we would have probably won
in the hearing, and it would have cost tens of thousands of dollars
in attorney's fees," said Steve White, the college's vice president
of instructional services.
Low enrollment and the high cost of running the program led to its
scheduled discontinuation next year. The school's pilot training and
flight attendant and travel career programs were unaffected by the
cut.
Negotiating with the Glendale College Guild, the union that
represents the college faculty, was a better option, Davitt said.
"The faculty involved was happy also," he said. "We found a way
for them to exit the college gracefully with severance or retirement
packages, rather than just be laid off."
The agreement calls for instructors Dave Bowerman and Tony Owen to
retire, and for John Cassel to resign, with a severance package,
Davitt said.
The agreement is also beneficial for students, who will have until
February 2006 to transfer to a school with a similar program. The
agreement allows the college to retain the faculty, so they can teach
to February 2006.
"We didn't want the financial situation to inconvenience students
more than necessary," White said.
The program could be revived. Trustees last month also approved
the formation of a task force to study the feasibility of retooling
the program as a fee-based, noncredit class based out of the school's
Community Services Education division.
