CHAMPAIGN -- The Champaign school district approved laying off 206 employees at its meeting Monday night.

But no more than 20 jobs are being lost, said Beth Shepperd, assistant superintendent for human resources.

And, she said, "We hope we can do most of this through attrition."

The district must let employees know by the end of March if it intends to lay them off for the next school year. Of the 206 employees, 65 are certified (teachers), and 141 are noncertified staff.

Every year, the district gives layoff notices to employees whose salaries are paid with grant money, those who were late hires and those working part-time.

Many of those employees are hired back, once the district finds out it will continue to receive grant money or its staffing needs become clearer.

Last year, the district laid off about 80 certified employees and about 50 noncertified employees, Shepperd said. It was able to hire back about 75 percent of its laid-off teachers and 100 percent of noncertified staff.

Of the certified employees, three jobs are being eliminated. They are two full-time coordinator positions in the central office and two part-time coordinator positions.

Another three to five teachers were laid off based on projected staffing needs, by looking at enrollment numbers and student choice of course offerings. The rest were part-time positions, late hires or grant-funded positions.

The majority of the noncertified staff who will receive layoff notices are not having their jobs cut. Rather, they will be working fewer days next year, and the district must lay them off and then rehire them at the reduced number of days.

Among those who will be working fewer days next year are cafeteria workers, some clerical staff, hall monitors and one nurse.

The district is eliminating about 10 noncertified positions, mostly teacher aides and library clerks, and one occupational therapy assistant.

Shepperd said supervisors spoke with employees who will receive layoff notices about why they are being laid off and about the opportunities for recall.

They were also assured the layoffs are not based on performance.

"We put a lot of time, money and energy into training our staff and we want to keep them," Shepperd said.