Anderson Community Schools will lay off 16 more people Tuesday, including custodians, secretaries and administrators.
The staff members were notified Monday and will meet with school officials today at 2:30 p.m. at the Wigwam to discuss the lay off.
An anonymous caller to The Herald Bulletin Monday night said the 16 were notified Monday, and that was confirmed by Rick Muir, president of the Anderson Federation of Teachers.
"It's a difficult thing," said Muir. "I hate it."
Custodians and secretaries at ACS are part of the AFT.
"We see (the layoffs) as a statement of the conditions we find ourselves in," he said.
A message was left with P.T. Morgan, ACS board president, but not returned.
Another board member, Teddy Bohnenkamp, said she wasn't aware that staff members were being laid off.
"I know nothing about people being let go," she said, adding that she knew personnel was the sole agenda item on tonight's special school board meeting.
ACS's interim superintendent Lennon Brown, said he would comment at the board meeting today. He said the purpose of the meeting was "staff related."
Muir railed against the educational philosophy of the state.
"When you have a state school superintendent openly pushing for taking state tax dollars to give to private school, what of you expect?" he asked.
He also expressed contempt for what he called the three-quarters of a billion dollars to fund Indianapolis' Capital Improvement Board, which oversees sports stadiums and convention centers, at the expense of education.
The anonymous caller said the layoffs were positions being eliminated, but Muir said that wasn't true.
"To say they'll never come back, that depends on a lot of factors," he said.
Muir noted that nearby Hamilton Southeastern school district is considering a class action lawsuit with other school systems against the state for, according to WTHR's Web site, "Funds from the state spread equally across all districts, and those funds following a student as he or she moves into other districts. The superintendent for Hamilton Southeastern schools says it can't keep up with its booming enrollment with the money it currently receives."
Muir said it's going to take all state school systems to send a message to the state.