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The Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District Board of Education agreed to eliminate about 40 full-time equivalents during a tenuous meeting last week, in attempts to address a $6 million general fund deficit.
Positions on the chopping block include 1.0 FTE certificated librarian, 2.0 FTE counselor, 2.0 FTE teacher on special assignment, 7.0 FTE multiple subject teacher, 2.6 FTE psychologist, 1.0 FTE network technician, 1.0 FTE aquatics coordinator, 1.0 FTE bond program administrator, 1.0 FTE communications specialist and many more.
It is not yet determined how many people will be laid off as a result of the budget reductions.
Preliminary layoff notices will be sent by March 15, in accordance with the law. But some of those may be rescinded, depending on attrition and the amount of non-personnel reductions, Superintendent Torie Gibson explained.
The intended eliminations are meant to help the school district meet its 3% reserves requirement.
All trustees agreed at the meeting Feb. 18, even preliminarily cutting positions was challenging. But in the end, Trustee Craig Bueno was the only dissenting vote in a 4-1 decision to terminate select classified and certificated positions.
“While we’ll always strive for thoughtful and thorough decision-making, the reality is there will always be differing opinions on whether we have done enough or taken the right approach,” Board President Emily Prusso said.
To Livermore Education Association President Aimee Thompson, she didn’t expect the need to issue layoff notices to LEA members, given the number of resignations and retirements as well as temporary contracts and contract workers.
Also the district must reprioritize its budget to offer competitive compensation to union members including teachers, nurses, counselors, psychologists, speech pathologists, social workers and teachers on special assignment, she said. No compensation increase, as the district offered in January is not acceptable to the union.
To kick off the board discussion, Bueno asked how reducing psychologists would impact the district’s ability to serve its students.
“We will be able to serve all our students,” assistant superintendent of special education Kelly Manke said. By the district’s calculations, they are currently overstaffed with school psychologists.
Bueno then asked if school psychologists feel they can take on the work of laid off employees.
“I think in any position, everybody would like more of anything. But I think they understand where we are. I think that they understand the extra that we have as well that can be absorbed by what we are currently doing,” Manke said.
The district is also looking to lower workload by reducing the initial referrals to special education, because those take significant time. There are resources available without going through the referral process, Manke said.
She added, if calculations show greater need, the district could hire or maintain more psychologists.
“Meeting (needs) on paper and meeting the needs of students are two different things,” Trustee Steven Drouin said.
Bueno added, “We’re dealing with some of our most vulnerable people that are under care. We’re kind of taking a quantum leap, that we’re making the assumption that we’re going to be able to work through it.”
In a turn of topic, Drouin asked what would happen if the board decided to keep all the employees.
The district would continue to deficit spend and maintain its qualified status, Gibson said.
Under a qualified certification for its 2023-24 budget, the California Department of Education determined the district might not be able to meet its financial obligations two years out.
Overall, the district’s financial situation would worsen, assistant superintendent of business services Kayla Wasley added. More specifically, the district would likely move into a negative certification, meaning the district would be unlikely to meet its financial obligations in the next year and the reserve would drop to about 0.73%. This would also mean additional oversight by outside agencies into the district.
“My family owes several hundreds of thousands of dollars for our house. We’re in debt regarding that. Why can’t our district do that to maintain and meet the needs of the students?” Drouin asked rhetorically.
Drouin added, these reductions cut into student needs and benefits.
Trustee Christiaan VandenHeuvel later likened the situation to being guided across a river and being told it is waist-deep water.Â
“We really have to trust that this is going to affect very few people but that’s all we can go by. We just don’t know,” VandenHeuvel said. “This feels very overwhelming because behind each one of these is a person, is a name, is somebody who does an amazing job.”
But he praised the work of district staff and expressed hope for non-personnel cuts to take the place of position reductions.
Prusso expressed a similar outlook for the coming months. “I’m holding onto hope that once we do this, we can dig into some of the expenditures that are not related to people’s jobs,” Prusso said.
Next up, was the decision to cut classified employees.
“Behind each classification is a dedicated employee whose life will be changed forever by the decisions that you make this evening,” California School Employees Association President Mamie Kristovich said.
CSEA represents classified employees including executive assistants, facilities and network technicians and office specialists.
LVJUSD network technician Allan Platon joined the conversation during public comment to request the maintenance of his role. “I ask for your support to retain my position, which directly impacts the safety, efficiency and financial wellbeing of this district,” Platon said.
Kristovich also expressed concern over the lack of employee involvement in the decision-making process.Â
“If there is a plan to mitigate the loss of all these jobs without violating our collective bargaining agreement, it has not been shared with CSEA or employees,” Kristovich said.
Of particular concern is the elimination of a transportation specialist from the special education department. That elimination would cause a serious contractual violation, Kristovich said. Work cannot be reassigned between classifications without negotiations.
“If CSEA is not supporting it because of the concerns they’ve expressed, I have reservations,” Bueno responded. “Their concerns seem to be valid.”
His comment was met with audience applause.
Before the district can work with CSEA leadership, the board must approve the reductions, Gibson explained. There will be time to work with CSEA leadership before final layoff notices are required.
Prusso and staff clarified that moving duties from CSEA to LEA leadership is not possible nor part of the plan.
To keep the decisions fair between the unions, Prusso said she supported approving the CSEA reductions.
But Bueno said he couldn’t approve the reduction. Following an approval of cuts, he worried about the inability to reach a decision with CSEA.
To wrap up the discussion Drouin said, “I’m not as optimistic that everything on here is up for grabs — that we’re going to find $6 million worth of savings in toilet paper. Many of these positions are going to go away. But I think there is room for flexibility between now and May.”
In an identical vote to the certificated positions, the district’s intention to cut select classified positions was passed 4-1.
Bueno’s dissent was once again met with applause.
In addition to the intended staff cuts, the board discussed potential non-personnel reductions at a special meeting Feb. 13. The proposed reductions included elimination of Docusign in exchange for free Google services, elimination of a research database within IB for free databases and the reduction of school site allocations. Fund shifting was also proposed for some supplies and staff in ELOP as well as custodial costs within adult education.
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