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By Thursday afternoon, four of the 35 had been reassigned within Brookwood or to other facilities.
"The well looks pretty dry unless something happens," CSEA Local #551 representative Mark Davis said yesterday. "I told my guys today it's not over yet--the state is working for us and doing their best, but it looks pretty grim."
Local #551 represents 185 staff people at Brookwood. The 22 teachers there are represented by the Public Employees Federation.
"We made out a lot better than we could have," said PEF representative John Liebruk. "We were targeted to lose three teachers, but at this point we have nobody out on the street." Two teachers have found new assignments, he said.
Layoffs at Brookwood are a consequence of the closing last summer of the Harlem Valley Secure Center in Wingdale, Dutchess County, an antiquated facility housed in a former insane asylum.
Staff from Harlem Valley have the right to "bump" staff at Brookwood who have less seniority.
Initially, about 100 staff at Harlem Valley with bumping rights were let go, but the Division of Children and Family Services, which operates both centers, found places for all but the 35 who bumped workers at Brookwood.
Brookwood houses a maximum of 183 "adjudicated" youths, according to DCFS spokesman Brian Marchetti--boys "who have been remanded to our care by the courts."
He said yesterday, "Our agency is making every effort to minimize the impact of the Harlem Valley closing. We're working with the Department of Civil Service, the governor's Office of Employee Relations and the labor unions."
