Hundreds of San Diego Unified staff won’t be laid off after all

The vast majority of San Diego Unified educators who were issued layoff notices earlier this year will remain employed after the school district’s latest review of its vacant positions and revenue. 

Staff members and students rallied against the district’s decision to issue preliminary layoff notices to about 250 employees and eliminate 484 positions as officials projected budget shortfalls in the coming years. Impacted staff included both certificated positions such as teachers, and classified employees, such as bus drivers and food service workers.

But after taking a look at teacher vacancies opened up by retirements and resignations and reanalyzing “revenue trends,” officials said they determined they could retain most staff whose jobs were on the line just two months ago.

The district said in its announcement Thursday afternoon that it was rescinding all but nine of the educator layoff notices “in partnership” with the teachers union. An agreement was signed earlier this week.

“Despite a significant deficit, I am proud that through data-driven planning that prioritized children’s needs, we have developed a fiscally sound budget with limited impacts on our tremendous educators,” board President Shana Hazan said in a statement. 

It wasn’t immediately clear how the decision will impact next year’s budget.

“We’re in the process of completing a disclosure and we will have updated numbers in June,” Mike Murad, the district’s public information coordinator, told inewsource.

San Diego Unified, California’s second-largest school district, projected a $93 million deficit next year and a $164 million shortfall during the 2025-26 year. The district has an operating budget of more than $1 billion, with 95% of its unrestricted budget spent on employee salaries and benefits. 

The San Diego Education Association, a union representing more than 6,000 of the district’s employees, suggested in March that instead of letting go of employees the district should dip into its reserves and make cuts elsewhere, such as “bloated” budgets for books and supplies. 

School districts in California are required to have a reserve for economic uncertainties. San Diego Unified officials were warned earlier this year that its reserves were lower than other large school districts in the state. 

The teachers union said on Facebook that 101 of the 108 layoff notices impacting educators were rescinded. It credited rallies and community organizing for changing the district’s decision.

About 60 classified employees are still set to be laid off, the Union-Tribune reported.

Districts across the state are grappling with budget problems caused by enrollment declines, the loss of COVID-19 funding and the state’s own financial troubles. inewsource found that each of the county’s 10 largest districts is facing a deficit next year, with half of them issuing layoff notices and more eliminating job positions.