San Diego Unified teachers, staff urge district to reconsider layoffs

San Diego Unified employees and their supporters called on district board members to rescind layoff notices and find alternative budget solutions Tuesday. 

Over 100 teachers, staff members and students rallied outside of the district’s board meeting in response to its decision to lay off hundreds of employees as it faces massive budget shortfalls in the coming years. 

The San Diego Education Association, a union representing more than 6,000 teachers, nurses, counselors, psychologists, and speech pathologists, has called for the district to consider dipping into reserves and seek cuts elsewhere — including what the union called “bloated” budgets for books and supplies. 

“These people are important. They teach us and they guide us down the right paths and I will not stand to see 226 of them being laid off,” Samuel Pardo Improta, an 8th grader at Roosevelt Middle School and one of the organizers of the event, told the crowd. 

Last month, board members approved laying off 250 employees and eliminating 484 positions, including bus drivers and teachers. The school district, California’s second largest, projected a $93 million budget deficit, but even with cuts to the workforce it still faces a $25 million shortfall next year. 

San Diego Unified also projects a $164 million deficit during the 2025-26 school year. 

The district has a more than $1 billion operating budget, with about 95% of the unrestricted budget spent on employee salaries and benefits. Although the latest budget shows the district will spend about $850,000 less on certificated salaries next year, it will spend over $9 million more for the 2025-26 school year than it had expected in December. 

Employees on Tuesday argued the district didn’t conduct an analysis of the most cost-effective way of addressing the budget shortfall and instead quickly turned to eliminating jobs. 

Students who need consistency will be hurt as they lose teachers and other staff they’ve come to know and trust, Megan Glynn, vice president of the district’s bargaining unit for office, technical and business services employees, said during the rally. 

“Teachers are not disposable. We are not a way to cheaply and quickly fix your budget,” she said.

Glynn is among the San Diego Unified employees who received a pink slip notifying her that she would no longer be employed at the district next year. Several staffers held up pink signs during the rally, each noting the number of students they said will be impacted by their layoff. 

For Beth Moss, a 9th grade biology teacher at Logan Memorial, that number is 120. 

“I could cry because I want to be there with them and like supporting them,” she said.  

San Diego Unified will post available jobs for next year by April 22, which will allow employees who were laid off to reapply for a similar position if available. Applicants will be notified whether they have been rehired by May 15. 

But kindergarten teacher Lisa Riley said it feels like the district is posting the jobs they just took away and is discouraged to apply again after this round of layoffs. She said she moved to San Diego two years ago to educate students and train early career teachers. 

Without a job and uncertainties over being rehired, Riley plans on moving to a more affordable state. 

“We (Mountain View Elementary) don’t have much experience and I have 35 years of teaching, but I’m the teacher that’s been laid off,” she said. 

The teachers union typically studies the budget every year and one thing that doesn’t add up is the inflated budget for books and supplies, said Kisha Borden, an elementary school teacher and former SDEA president. 

“In the classrooms, we feel like, well we haven’t received a new book adoption, we haven’t received any extra supplies. Why is this line item increasing?” she said. “Sometimes the district can get creative with the budget.”

Kyle Weinberg, SDEA president, told inewsource that with reserve spending and by allowing people to retire instead of eliminating positions, the district should be able to balance its budget.

School districts in California are required by the state to have a reserve for economic uncertainties. Officials cautioned board members earlier this year about the district’s reserves, which are lower than other large school districts across the state. 

San Diego Unified reserves amount to about 7% of its total budget, roughly a third of the average reserves held by school districts statewide, according to reporting by the Union-Tribune.