BEVERLY — Nearly 100 teachers and staff at Beverly public schools received pink slips yesterday.

The slips went to all employees who do not have professional status, or tenure, which means they have worked in the school system for less than three years, Superintendent James Hayes said.

"Because they're low on the seniority totem pole, so to speak, it puts them at risk," Hayes said.

Although a pink slip means that person has been laid off, it doesn't mean they will be out of a job in September. Many will be rehired once the district sets a budget, which will determine the number of teachers and staff needed for next year.

"We can't hire people back until we know what that staffing is," Hayes said. Handing out pink slips this way is routine, he said. Yet he encouraged everyone who received a pink slip to start looking for another job.

"They need to take it seriously," he said. "Some of them will have a sense, but there are no guarantees. We can't say for certain whether they have a job."

Hayes is working to develop a budget for Mayor Bill Scanlon's plan to keep Cove School open next year, but close McKeown Elementary School and turn it into an alternative secondary school. The School Committee approved Scanlon's plan, after the mayor said the city would give the schools $680,000 from the general fund to keep Cove School open. The money is available because of recycling savings and increased revenue from the trash fee.

Scanlon said he would not allocate the money to support Hayes' proposal to close both schools.

Hayes' plan would have laid off about 61 teachers and staff. "That was a big staff savings of about $1 million in salary and benefits," Hayes said.

Scanlon's plan will eliminate fewer teaching and staff positions, but the numbers are not yet certain. In some cases, Hayes said, people can use common sense to figure out their chances of being laid off. For instance, since one school is closing, it will mean one less nurse.

"They can count seniority pretty easily," Hayes said. Yet an elementary teacher who is also qualified to teach middle and high school could be moved around and someone else would lose a job.

The City Council is legally required to approve a budget before July 1.

If voters approve a $2.5 million Proposition 21/2 on June 3, the school system will remain the same in September, and no one would be laid off.