With little more than a month to go before the March 15 deadline, school districts are busy refining the number of people they must notify that they could be jobless come fall.

The tallies have fluctuated a lot over the last weeks, but there's no doubt that there'll be layoffs – and that it's young teachers who will bear the brunt.

State law mandates that districts warn certificated workers – who include teachers and librarians – by March 15 that they could be laid off, and issue pink slips by May 15.

While the number of notices or what types of programs are cut will ultimately vary by district, union rules remain the same. The most senior teachers are the best protected. And the young ones are feeling the most angst.

"Everybody's pretty worried," said sixth-grade teacher Rob Myers, who has taught at Twin Rivers Unified School District's Garden Valley Elementary School for several years.

At a staff meeting last week, Myers said teachers were told that the district is likely to give notices to those hired since 2002. "Which will include me," he said.

Mary Dick, who's president of Rocklin Teachers Professional Association and teaches music at Granite Oaks Middle School, said Thursday that she's been told Rocklin Unified will notify 109 people.

When districts release the final number of teachers they will notify – and from which programs – the unions will jump in to evaluate each teacher or certificated workers' case.

"The No. 1 (protective) thing is seniority – years of service," said Dick. "We look to make sure that each person has been laid off properly."

If teachers have the same hire date, tiebreakers could include advanced degrees, special certificates or credentials. And sometimes a less senior teacher will be kept over a more senior one because the junior teacher is credentialed in a specialized program that will not be cut, Dick said.

Myers isn't the only worried young teacher at Garden Valley.

"It's a lot of anxiety not knowing," said colleague Chet Linton, 35, who teaches fifth grade. "I have three kids of my own, and if I do get laid off I know there won't be a job out there for me."

Linton is the most junior of all teachers hired in 2007, since he started in October after the school year began.

Myers, 39, said he thinks he's taught long enough that his pink slip may not stick. He feels for his more junior colleagues, who've impressed him with their positivity.

"It's tough to be told at a staff meeting in the morning that you probably won't have a job next year and then go and try your best with your kids," he said.

Calen Cross, 30, is in his fourth year of teaching, but his first year at Twin Rivers Unified. He teaches sixth-graders.

"One of the reasons I got into teaching is that I felt like I needed to serve people in some way," Cross said. "Especially at a lower income school like Garden Valley, you get to serve the most needy kids."

More than 90 percent of the school's students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

He feels like he's finally gotten into his groove as a teacher this year, he said. He received a good evaluation.

"Everything's going pretty good, and now I don't have a job," Cross said.

And he's married, with a baby on the way. Due date?

"Just a few weeks after school gets out in June," he said.

Call The Bee's Melissa Nix, (916) 321-1090.