BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- A local teacher said she was fired two weeks ago and then expected to go back to finish the day's classes.

"I've never heard of anyone being fired during the middle of the day and expected to go back to work," said teacher Marci Palla.

A teachers union representative said it happened to others, too.

"A lot of our primary teachers were reading in class. A principal came in to take over for a few minutes and they'd walk down to the office and a district administrator would hand them a notice and they'd walk back to class and pick up the exercises," said Phillip Brown of the California Teachers Association.

That's similar to what happened to Palla two weeks ago. She said that when she got to the office, another teacher was in the middle of being laid off.

"They couldn't even wait to fire the first person before they told me and then they did it during my lunch break and expected me to go back to work," said Palla.

"We've been through it before , but not on this level, and particularly the depth not only this district but throughout the state," said Brown.

Bakersfield City School District has until March 15 to hand out 120 pink slips. In order to notify everyone in such a short amount of time, they've resorted to calling in teachers one by one throughout the day to tell them they are being laid off.

"It's very stressful out there," said Brown.

Considering that, Palla said administrators should treat the teachers as humans, not numbers on a list.

"If they were in that position, would they really want to be told such traumatic news and expect to go back and put a smile on their face and work with young children?" said Palla.

BCSD issued a statement saying: "Most teachers have told BCSD they are grateful to have been notified in person and have someone available to answer questions rather than just receive a letter in the mail. But rest assured not every one who received a pink slip will be fired. It does not guarantee he/she will lose their job indefinitely. It all depends on what the upcoming school budget will be and how many teachers quit or retire."

That's why BCSD is offering a retirement incentive to motivate people to retire so as to bring back teachers. A clearer determination on who comes back won't be made until summer when teachers retire or quit. Even so, Palla thinks teachers should be laid off at the end of the day.