Layoffs will also strike dozens of office workers, computer instructors and others.

The Merced City School District will lay off seven preschool teachers and possibly dozens of noncredentialed employees, the district's governing board decided Tuesday night.

The cuts, which passed on unanimous votes, are estimated to save the district roughly $1.4 million. They are the latest changes the school board has approved to try to close a massive budget shortfall at the elementary and middle school district.

Countless districts across California have been forced to make similar cuts in the face of the recent recession and an unprecedented state budget crisis.

Tuesday's decision followed emotional input from teachers and employees likely to lose their jobs.

"This is too big of a loss for us to take," said Laurie Baria, a computer lab instructor at Ada Givens Elementary School, who expects to be affected by the cuts and cried during her testimony before the school board. "Hopefully you'll reconsider how important these positions are."

In all, the board voted to eliminate four preschool teachers, three preschool assistant teachers and the equivalent of 21 other full-time employees. Those include office workers, custodians, computer lab instructors and instructional assistants hired to help special education and Hmong and Spanish-speaking students.

It's still unclear exactly how many employees will be affected. Though the board approved cutting the equivalent of 21 full-time, noncredentialed workers, the district will decide later what combination of full- and part-time employees it will terminate to meet those cuts, said Greg Spicer, the district's associate superintendent.

If several part-time workers are selected for layoffs, for example, more than 21 noncredentialed employees will lose their jobs. The district could also choose to keep certain employees but cut their hours.

Spicer said effected workers will be notified by mid-May, though several who attended Tuesday night's meeting already seemed to assume they'll be among those cut at the end of this school year.

Val Templeton, a teacher at Ada Givens, pleaded with board members to remember an earlier promise to try to keep the cuts as far away from students as possible. "These cuts will adversely affect all students at our school," she said.

The board's vote was in line with recommendations made by the district. Those recommendations were based on input collected from individual schools and from unions representing workers, Spicer said.

Others who spoke during the board meeting accused the district of "violating fair labor practices" and asked why it didn't look to districtwide pay reductions to save jobs.

Board members said they didn't see any other choice besides supporting Tuesday's cuts. "I'm all for saving every job, but show me how," board member Gene Stamm said. "We're trying as hard as we can to do what's right."

Board members also vowed to reinstate as many employees as possible if the district somehow finds extra money later on, such as yet-to-be-doled-out government stimulus funding.

Tuesday's cuts come in addition to a February decision to eliminate dozens of credentialed teaching positions. That's when the board voted to increase all kindergarten classes from 20 to 25 students next year, allowing the district to cut 24 kindergarten teaching positions.

By law the district had to warn credentialed teachers at risk of losing their jobs by March 15. To meet that requirement, officials issued layoff notices to 75 instructors earlier this month, though it remains uncertain exactly how many of them will end up without jobs.

In an interview Tuesday, Spicer said the district hopes to hire back at least a third of them. "That's what we'd like, and we're optimistic we can do it," he said, adding that final decisions on credentialed employees will also probably come in May.

The board was slated to decide on the noncredentialed reductions at its last meeting March 10, but it delayed the vote until this week in hopes of identifying ways to lessen the cuts.

The Merced City School District includes 18 schools and employs about 1,300 people. It serves roughly 11,000 kindergarten through eighth-grade students, as well as preschoolers.

Reporter Corinne Reilly can be reached at (209) 385-2477 or creilly@mercedsun-star.com.