15 Dec President, Clerk Trade Places as School Board Urged to Take Action on Budget

(Screenshot captured by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)

By Samantha Kennedy

Two members of the West Contra Costa Board of Education are trading positions.

After acting as clerk for the past year, Jamela Smith-Folds was unanimously appointed to serve as president for the next year. She will succeed Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy in the position, who was named clerk of the board.

Smith-Folds and Gonzalez-Hoy were thanked by other members of the board and Superintendent Kenneth Hurst for their leadership on the board this past school year.

Hurst said the pair’s ability to listen, respond and react to community voices is something that stands out to him as the leaders they are.

Gonzalez-Hoy said he is looking forward to Smith-Folds’ presidency, especially because he considers her an ethical and courageous person.

Smith-Folds said the work the board will do is a team effort and to not forget that, even in her position, she can make mistakes.

“I am not a superwoman. I’m a human being,” Smith-Folds said. “Please do not put a cape on me. Please do not hold me up to some incredibly high pedestal.”

Approval of first interim budget

There’s one thing on Smith-Folds’ mind as she begins her presidency, and she thinks it should be on everyone’s — the budget. And there doesn’t seem to be any way to avoid it now.

In recent years, the board has prevented cut after cut to protect staffing in the district, which has increased the risk of fiscal insolvency and a county takeover. District staff says this can’t continue.

The first interim budget, which includes a budget for this fiscal year and the next two, was approved Wednesday with a qualified certification. This means the district might not meet its financial obligations in one of the years. Cuts, however, need to be made to keep the district afloat.

“There is immediate action that needs to be taken by the board,” said Javetta Cleveland, the fiscal expert assigned to the district. Cleveland said expiring COVID funds that helped pay salaries and the poor situation of the state’s budget mean they will not be able to bail the district out of its situation.

Staffing and non-salary cuts were presented at the meeting, showing that positions equivalent to almost 140 full-time employees would need to be cut. The staffing cuts would reduce costs by $14.9 million. Staff represented by the United Teachers of Richmond and Teamsters 856 unions would be the most affected.

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It’s unclear how many of those positions are currently vacant or the number of actual employees they represent.

Kim Moses, the interim associate superintendent of business services, said there are current negotiations with several unions and initial bargaining with UTR will soon start. Increases in these contracts, she said, would mean additional cuts to afford the increases.

Trustees Leslie Reckler and Mister Phillips said they were under the impression that several different scenarios of staffing cuts were going to be presented.

Moses said further discussions with labor unions would need to happen before other scenarios could be presented. Additional scenarios could be presented at a future meeting.

The board is expected to vote on staffing cuts at the March 6, 2024, meeting.

The next regular West Contra Costa Unified school board meeting is Jan. 10, 2024.