04 Mar Hundreds of Educators Could Lose Jobs as WCCUSD Makes Preliminary Layoffs

West Contra Costa school board members on Feb. 25 approved about 300 possible job cuts to reduce the district’s budget deficit. (Screenshot captured by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)

By Samantha Kennedy

Hundreds of West Contra Costa Unified educators could lose their jobs after school board members approved preliminary layoffs to help reduce the district’s budget deficit.

Members voted at their Feb. 25 meeting to cut around 300 full-time positions to reduce a more than $127 million deficit over three years, after dozens of students and staff rallied against the cuts.

The board slashed positions belonging to teachers, paraprofessionals, music and career technical education instructors, and instructors in the Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program. It’s not yet known, however, how many of those positions the district will ultimately go through with cutting.

“The climate of the district is now going to change. It is heartbreaking that we are here, but this is where we are,” said board member Jamela Smith-Folds. “If we do not make the decisions to keep one hand on the wheel, we are going to have more of these conversations than less.”

Board member Cinthia Hernandez was the sole vote against the certificated cuts, which includes teachers. Smith-Folds was the only one to oppose cuts to classified staff, which includes those represented by Teamsters 856. Board member Leslie Reckler was absent.

One welding instructor and one building instructor at Kennedy High School were removed from the list of cuts after Hernandez and board member Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy failed to gather enough support to include music teachers on that list. At the request of Gonzalez-Hoy, the district could find funding for those positions by cutting existing contracts.

“Every decision is going to be hard because every decision touches someone,” said board President Guadalupe Enllana.

Kumi Yanagihara, who teaches at Kennedy High, said that the district cuts are part of a loop that makes the district unattractive to families.

“We lose students, we lose [average daily enrollment], and then we have to cut teachers and programs,” said Yanagihara. “Do you see where I’m going with this? You all are the ones with the power to fix this.”

Students said they felt the cuts at Kennedy High were worse than those they had seen at other schools across the district. Board members approved cuts to positions at the school for courses in journalism, Spanish for Spanish speakers and ethnic studies.

“It’s not only disheartening but discouraging to see the people who are supposed to protect my future and the future of my peers continuously ruin it,” said Aliza Floyd, a junior at Kennedy High. “You give us the bare minimum and tell us to make do.”

Carl Milton, who works in the district’s glass shop, said that the cuts to his department will also make the workplace and campuses unsafe.

“When I heard that [the school board] wants to cut one of these jobs, I had to come and let everybody know that one guy in this shop — it’s not only going to put him at risk, it’s going to put all of you at risk,” said Milton.

The district has seen enrollment, which is a large part of how it receives funding, decline and an expiration of COVID-19 one-time funding that had helped keep the district afloat. In December, the district’s deficit increased after teachers and other staff went on strike for better pay and benefits.

The package with the United Teachers of Richmond, Teamsters Local 856 and others has a financial impact of around $100 million over three years.

Francisco Ortiz, president of UTR, said that the problem the district has is where its priorities are when distributing funding. Ortiz said that meant overspending by $8 million on conference travel and contracts.

“Your duty is to demand the truth before you vote, demand accurate numbers, demand accountability,” said Ortiz.