06 Feb WCCUSD to Cut 90 Jobs, Calls It ‘an Absolute Necessity’

(Screenshot captured by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)

By Samantha Kennedy

The West Contra Costa school board on Wednesday approved $13 million in cuts over the next two years, setting up the elimination of 90 positions in the district. 

That means 43 positions for the 2025-26 school year will be eliminated and in 2026-27, 47 positions. Seventeen of those are classroom teachers. 

“No one wants to do this. No one runs for office to do this. No one works here to do this,” board President Leslie Reckler said before the vote. “This is an absolute necessity. We are staring down a dire fiscal situation.” 

Board members voted 3-1, with Trustee Jamela Smith-Folds abstaining and Trustee Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy absent, to make the cuts that district officials say are necessary to maintain local control of its finances. 

The cuts are part of a multiyear fiscal solvency plan that has already resulted in $19 million in cuts for this school year. 

Smith-Folds said she believes the way to move forward with the cuts is to first ensure everyone has a seat at the table. 

“I want us to start coming together and I think the way to say that is to abstain, get together and then let me move forward with that positive vote because we’re as one,” said Smith-Folds. 

Several teachers speaking at Wednesday’s meeting urged the board not to move forward with the cuts that they say will further burden educators and hurt students. 

“They’re telling you that cutting teachers, social workers and special education services is fiscal responsibility,” said Francisco Ortiz, president of the teachers union, United Teachers of Richmond, “but I ask you how is it responsible to abandon our students?” 

>>>Teacher and Her Students Agree: Layoffs Not the Answer to WCCUSD Budget Woes<<<

Ortiz and other educators said that the district held $162 million in its reserves — money set aside in the event of an emergency — and didn’t need to make the cuts. 

Interim Superintendent Kim Moses said that figure is “not an accuracy in our reality.” 

“I think I’d have to ask our union officials how they’re calculating that amount,” she said. “The reality is currently in our reserves we are holding $37.63 million dollars.” 

In addition, she said, the approved fiscal solvency plan “is exhausting most of that in order to meet our annual fiscal responsibilities.” 

The board initially was set to vote on the cuts last week but had to cancel the meeting when it failed to achieve a quorum. 

Student Trustee Jorge Espinoza Jr., who ultimately voted against the cuts, questioned if the reductions could be put off again to find other ways to meet fiscal obligations. (Student trustee votes are only advisory and do not impact the outcome.)

“The reality is we were under a deadline to have this decided last week, and so we have missed a deadline set forth by the county,” said Moses. “We do not anticipate any changes in the budget that would change the need to move these reductions forward.” 

District officials say the deficit is largely due to declining enrollment and average daily attendance, which has dropped by over 4,000 students since the 2020-21 school year. 

When Moses first presented the cuts to the board at the Jan. 8 meeting, she said an increase in average daily attendance by almost 3% could remove the need for the reductions. That increase would mean an additional $7.7 million in funding, according to Moses. 

The next West Contra Costa school board meeting is Feb. 12.