More Than 40 Teachers Tenured

Just months after the  handed out pink slips in the face of budget problems, more than 40 teachers across the district were given tenure.

The regular school board meeting was turned into a celebration Wednesday night at the Nimitz Elementary School multipurpose room, as the board and staff recognized more than 40 teachers who were given permanent appointment after successfully completing their probationary periods.

Teachers like Paul Papoulias said they were relieved that their pink slips had turned into tenure notices.

“It became normal to me to be a young teacher and have my job in jeopardy every year,” said Paul Papoulias, who teaches kindergarten at . He said he has been pink-slipped for the last three years; the first year was as an intern.

“It’s just a wonderful school I teach at," added Papoulias, who grew up in the area and went to school at West Valley Elementary and Cupertino Middle. "It felt like home, and I didn’t want to leave.”  

Every year the school district celebrates and recognizes the teachers who earn tenure, which occurs upon the start of a teacher’s third school year, according to Superintendent Phil Quon.

Annually, the district has 60-80 new hires, but in recent years, that has gone down, according to Quon. He said this year’s teachers who stayed till the beginning of their third year will be the “last of the big groups” for awhile.

“Several of these teachers up here are ones I pink-slipped myself,” Quon said. “And I’m happy they’ve chosen to stay with our special district.”

In a letter signed by Quon in May, attached, he explained that with the governor's revised budget, the success of Measure C and primary class-size increases, all pink slips or layoff notices given in the spring were rescinded. A pink slip can be rescinded before the start of the coming school year, but it is not a guarantee.

Melissa Garcia, a special education teacher at , was also one of the teachers who got pink-slipped a few months back. She earned her tenure last night with the others.

“I definitely feel more secure,” Garcia said with a smile.

In other business, board members Josephine Lucey and Phyllis Vogel took the oath of office again to begin another four years on the board. Paul Ghilarducci was recognized as the classified employee of the month.

The next board meeting will be the Board Fall Advance on Oct. 4 at 6 p.m. in the board room of the school district office. The next regular board meeting is Oct. 11 at 6 p.m.

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Here is a list of tenured teachers, provided by the district:

CUPERTINO UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT 2011 Newly Tenured Teachers

Collins Elementary School: Katherine Camilleri, Tabitha Deyo, Bhagyashree Vadodkar

Cupertino Middle School: Nicolas Cortez, Robert Lo, Jacob Taberna, Julie Wilczynski, Erin Wiley, Gregory Zillmer

Eisenhower Elementary School: Sarah Della-Maggiore, Barbara Fritschen, Katherine Hutchison, Megan Lawson, Mahnaz

Pirani Faria Elementary School: Paul Papoulias

Garden Gate Elementary School: Hilary Kuhn, Elana Trop

Hyde Middle School: Melissa Garcia, Tejaswini Ranade, Jenna Segura

John Muir Elementary School: Laura Johnson

Kennedy Middle School: Anh Hong, Saraswathi Ranganathan, Griselda Renteria

Lawson Middle School: Beena Menon, Thea Ross

McAuliffe School: Susan Kitson, Pamela Kooh

Meyerholz Elementary School: Jane Lee, Sara Somers

Miller Middle School: Terry Chou, Molly Hardy

Montclaire Elementary School: Amanda Norris

Murdock-Portal Elementary School: Amelia Drake

Sedgwick Elementary School: Joanna Julin, Alexis Sharpe

Special Education & Pupil Services: Zachary Buffum, Kristi Iwami, Kristine Marquardson, Nancy Mitchner, Shonia Porter, Greta Tan, Marissa Tessman

Stevens Creek Elementary School: Anita Ralston

Stocklmeir Elementary School: Kimberly Cummings, Jennifer Jones, Elizabeth Levy

West Valley Elementary School: Ashley Failing