For public school employees, it’s a spring ritual.
Each year, school district administrators gauge what services they should provide — and can afford — for the next school year. If they decide to eliminate jobs, tentative layoffs must be approved by the state-imposed Friday, March 15, deadline. Layoff lists must be finalized by May 15, and sometimes districts rescind some layoff notices.
The potential cuts affect certificated jobs — such as teachers, librarians, psychologists — and classified positions, which are non-teachers such as aides, food-service workers and custodians. Some districts are also eliminating temporary and probational employees.
Though the process is routine, California Teachers Association President David Goldberg said tentative layoffs have dramatically increased this year.
A year ago, California schools proposed layoffs for about 316 certificated employees, he said in a Friday text message.
“This year, we are already aware of almost 1,400 positions on the chopping block — about five times more than last year, with more to come.”
Districts are pointing to budget issues as one reason for the possible cuts, he said.
Rialto school board President Joseph Martinez voiced a similar concern when his board prepared to approve layoffs in February.
“As much as I hate to, if we don’t do something drastic now, it will hurt us in the next coming two years,” Martinez said, adding that “the legislative accounting office this morning sent an update on the budget, and it’s looking worse than first anticipated.”
Cut positions don’t always mean a person will be jobless. Employees may be reassigned, which can result in different hours or pay, or in an employee with less seniority being let go instead. Also some eliminated roles already were vacant. Resignations, retirements and changes in funding may also allow more employees to stay.
Still, many employees questioned this year’s reductions, including the number of tentative layoffs, the kinds of services being cut and administrators’ reasoning.
In the Temecula Valley Unified School District, Pamela Ankeny’s job as an administrative assistant for maintenance, operations and transportation, is among those that may be gone.
She would be demoted to a secretary position, she told the board in February, and that prospect makes her feel “deflated, demoralized and unvalued.”
“I rely on my position to take care of myself and my family,” she said, adding that she can’t see the justification for eliminating her job.
Why are layoffs being approved?
Certain districts, such as the Moreno Valley Unified School District, face unusual circumstances such as a serious financial crisis.
But in general, many have cited the same factors behind the layoff notices: limited dollars, rising costs and declining student enrollment.
Goldberg called falling enrollment a serious issue, but, as with funding, he said it doesn’t necessarily explain the number of reductions.
California has the largest class sizes in the nation, he said, and sliding enrollment could allow for smaller classes if teachers weren’t being laid off.
In terms of funding, California school districts are preparing for at least one major change this year.
The state has received about $23 billion dollars in COVID-19 relief funding since March 2020, according to the California Department of Education, which has paid for resources ranging from additional instruction to air purification systems. But that money ends in fall, and of the services it supported, districts must decide which to keep.
Public school funding comes from the federal, state and local levels, with the majority supplied by the state, the California Budget and Policy Center states.
“We’ve seen some great increases in the past years,” Goldberg said, but overall, education is still underfunded. Part of the issue, he said, is a funding system that’s based partially on income tax, “which is very volatile.”
Meanwhile costs, including those to hire employees, are rising. The Public Policy Institute of California found that, because roughly 80% of spending is on staffing, “increases in personnel costs — such as health coverage and other benefits — can have an outsized fiscal impact.”
Funding shifts don’t fully explain the layoffs, Goldberg said, and it “doesn’t make sense” for districts to be reducing employees this year.
“Even in good years,” he said, districts can react disproportionately.
“They opt for layoffs, and then you look, and some have healthy, healthy reserves.”
No district in that position should be cutting employees, he said, adding that “that’s what reserves are for.”
Beyond funding and costs, almost three-quarters of the state’s school districts have seen enrollment drop in recent years, according to the Public Policy Institute, “bringing added fiscal pressures and difficult downsizing decisions.”
Population shifts, declining birth rates and enrollment in other kinds of schools are all contributing factors, according to the nonprofit agency.
Between the 2016-17 and 2022-23 school years, public school enrollment decreased by 1.3% in Riverside County and 2.2% in San Bernardino County, California Department of Education data show. But many districts saw bigger drops during the same period. Of the 12 school districts listed below, enrollment declines ranged from 3% in Hemet schools to 11.2% in the Alvord Unified School District.
Layoffs across the Inland Empire
Not every Inland Empire school district handed out tentative layoff notices, but a sampling of them shows a significant wave of potential reductions.
Alvord Unified School District
The Corona-based district, which serves the western Riverside area and a slice of Corona, saw its board vote in February to cut 45 full-time-equivalent certificated positions, as well as four classified positions. The decisions sparked an outcry from employees, who criticized the district’s lack of communication, the number of positions being cut and the number of administrators kept on the payroll.
Chino Valley Unified School District
The school board laid off temporary certificated employees and eliminated three permanent classified positions at February and March meetings.
Corona-Norco Unified School District
The Inland Empire’s largest school district, with 50,790 students last school year, did not issue layoff notices to permanent employees.
Some probationary and temporary workers won’t return, but Corona-Norco will not undergo reductions in services or staffing due to budgetary shortfalls,” a Thursday, March 14, statement from spokesperson Evita Tapia states.
The district’s “long-standing practice of long-term budget forecasting ensures stability, allowing us to navigate uncertain fiscal climates with confidence.”
Fontana Unified School District
Fontana’s school board voted Wednesday, March 13, to potentially cut four certificated positions: two teachers and two counselors.
Hemet Unified School District
In Hemet, the school board agreed to cut roughly 35 full-time-equivalent classified positions, plus a dozen vacant classified jobs, many of which were part-time.
Moreno Valley Unified School District
Its board OK’d cuts of about 70 full-time-equivalent positions, after failing to approve an earlier proposal that listed about 80. The district has declared “undue financial hardship” due to millions in legal settlements that it must begin paying, and about 88% of its general fund budget is spent on personnel, Interim Superintendent Robert Verdi said.
Pomona Unified School District
Pomona’s school board tentatively approved the release or reassignment of seven certificated employees — all assistant principals.
Redlands Unified School District
The district’s board eliminate the equivalent of about 15 classified positions, all from its preschool program.
Rialto Unified School District
The district’s approved cuts include 29 probationary certificated employees and 10 classified employees.
Riverside Unified School District
The Riverside school board in January approved the reduction of 23 full-time-equivalent certificated employees, and roughly 50 classified positions, many of which are part-time. Many of the latter already were vacant.
San Bernardino City Unified School District
The board decided not to renew the contracts of five certificated employees and reassigned two others on March 5. It also approved eliminating the equivalent of about 11.5 full-time classified positions, and reductions in hours for 12 more.
Temecula Valley Unified School District
The board in February cut the equivalent of about 6.5 full-time classified jobs.
