Dexter became the latest Washtenaw County school district to pink slip teachers, with the school board voting unanimously Monday to send layoff notices to about 24 non-tenured teachers.

Like other districts across the county, Dexter is projecting a budget deficit next year, thanks to expected cuts from the state in the per-pupil funding that makes up the bulk of the district’s revenues.

Like other districts across the county, Dexter is cutting teaching positions to help balance the budget.

And like their colleagues across the county, Dexter teachers who are getting layoff notices will spend the next several months in limbo, trying to figure out if they'll have a job come next fall.

Getting a layoff notice triggers scared feelings - even if you’ve been assured and reassured you’re likely to still have a job, Dexter teachers union president Joe Romeo told the school board before the vote Monday night.

How many positions are ultimately eliminated depends on a complex staffing formula that factors in state cuts, the number of teachers retiring, whether the state passes new laws with incentives to encourage retirements by teachers and complex federal laws about what subjects and grades individual teachers are certified to teach.

Romeo and board members said they're hopeful the majority, if not all, of the teachers who get layoff notices will be back with the district in the fall.

Other local district issuing layoff notices to teachers include Ann Arbor, Saline and Ypsilanti. In Ann Arbor, 191 layoff notices were mailed out to teachers last week. In Ypsilanti, the school board voted Monday to lay off 19 teachers.

David Jesse covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at davidjesse@annarbor.com or at 734-623-2534.