With education budgets squeezed statewide, Monterey County teachers are bracing for lay-off notices that, by law, districts must send  by March 15 if they anticipate downsizing next year.

At a special meeting Monday, March 8, the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District Board preliminarily approved eliminating 52 positions ,cutting some adult ed programs out altogether and trimming the hours of others.

Some positions could be restored if the budget picture brightens. In most years, March lay-off notices reflect a worst case scenario, but one that is nonetheless frightening to many teachers, says Jill Low, who heads MPUSD's teacher's union.

"I'm crossing my fingers and hoping," Low says, noting that 98 teachers got pink slips last year, and 40 eventually lost their jobs.