Hundreds of layoff notices pulled back by Inland Empire school districts

Waves of job cuts were avoided as hundreds of layoff notices were rescinded across Inland Empire school districts before the state’s May 15 deadline.

Several Inland districts pulled back the majority of their preliminary layoff notices because most positions on the chopping block were either vacant or employees planned to leave or retire. School officials said that, in most cases, they were able to reassign employees to different positions rather than lay them off.

By March 15, school districts were required by the state to send tentative layoff notices and had to finalize layoff lists by Wednesday, May 15.

Tentative layoff notices are often issued as schools look to the coming year’s budget and worry about financial constraints that may affect district wallets.

“There is no reason any district should be having layoffs, it’s just their knee-jerk reaction,” said David Goldberg president of the California Teachers Association, which opposes the maneuver. 

There was a tenfold increase in the number of tentative layoffs sent by districts this year compared to previous ones, Goldberg said.

Financial concerns fuel layoff notices

One factor that concerns California school administrators is a major funding change this year.

The state has received about $23 billion dollars in COVID-19 relief funding since March 2020, which has paid for resources ranging from additional instruction to air-purification systems. But that money will end in fall, and of the services it supported, districts must decide which to keep.

While that’s one issue, a bigger one is the way education funding is set up, Goldberg said.

Public school funding comes from federal, state and local sources, with the majority supplied by the state, the California Budget and Policy Center states.

Proposition 98 sets aside a minimum amount of money for schools based on a series of formulas, a Feb. 15 report from the California Legislative Analysts Office states. Because the state had less revenue in recent years, the school funding requirement is lower for the 2022-23 through the 2024-25 school years, the report states.

Beyond dealing with this change and regular expenses, almost three quarters of the state’s school districts have seen enrollment drop in recent years, according to the Public Policy Institute, which said this brings added fiscal pressures and difficult downsizing decisions.”

Population shifts, declining birth rates and enrollment in private, charter, or homeschools all contribute to declining enrollment, according to the nonprofit agency.

Between the 2016-17 and 2022-23 school years, public school enrollment decreased by 1.3% in Riverside County and 2.2% in San Bernardino County, California Department of Education data show. But many districts saw bigger drops during that period. Of the 12 school districts listed below, enrollment declines ranged from 3% in Hemet schools to 11.2% in the Corona-based Alvord Unified School District.

Why are schools rescinding layoffs?

Many employees were spared layoffs by districts’ shuffling of positions or because a job identified for elimination would be vacant, either from retirement or an employee choosing to leave.

For example, the Moreno Valley Unified School District gave out 70 tentative layoff notices, but that number was brought down to two layoffs of certificated employees, a category that includes teachers, librarians and psychologists. The district did not lay off any classified employees, which include non-teachers such as aides, food-service workers and custodians.

The district found other staffing solutions or moved employees to lower classifications, Anahi Velasco, the district’s director for community engagement, said in a Wednesday, May 22, email.

Moreno Valley schools also had employees leave or announce retirements, she said. 

Two counselors were ultimately let go, said Chris Farias, president of the Moreno Valley Educators Association. If cuts need to be made, they should be far from the classroom, Farias said. 

“I think for the district, it comes down to the fiscal decision,” Farias said. “So, you know, for us we looked at it as these are essential services that need to be provided to our to our staff and our kids, but the district looked at it differently than us.”

Jobs spared across the Inland Empire

Here is a look at what happened in a sampling of Inland districts that sent tentative layoffs by the March deadline.

Chino Valley Unified School District

The school board sent tentative notices this year for temporary certificated employees and eliminated three permanent classified positions in February and March. It was not clear Thursday, May 23, how many notices were issued.

The temporary employees’ contracts will end this school year, spokesperson Andrea Johnston said.

The district let go of one employee because the Nutrition Services Eligibility Program was eliminated. A health clerk whose job was funded by a two-year grant that is sunsetting also was laid off.

The district also eliminated an instructional aide paid by a grant that ends June 30, Johnston said.

Corona-Norco Unified School District 

The district issued tentative layoff notices to two probationary and 104 temporary employees.

Eighty-six of the 104 temporary employees will remain in the district, spokesperson Evita Tapia said.

As for how the district spared those 86 jobs, Tapia in a statement, credited the district’s long-term budget planning.

Fontana Unified School District

Fontana’s school board voted in March to potentially cut two teachers and two counselors.

The four jobs that could potentially be cut were vacant and there was no need for layoffs, spokesperson Peter Daniels said.

Moreno Valley Unified School District

In February, the Moreno Valley school board OK’d the potential cuts of about 70 full-time-equivalent positions, after failing to approve an earlier proposal that listed about 80.  The district declared “undue financial hardship” due to millions in legal settlements that it must begin paying, and about 88% of its general fund budget is spent on personnel, Interim Superintendent Robert Verdi said in March.

But the district rescinded the vast majority of those tentative layoffs, though two certificated employees received final layoff notices, Velasco said.

Classified employees were reassigned or had their hours decreased, a situation also seen for management employees who received notices in March, Velasco said.

Pomona Unified School District

In March, Pomona’s school board tentatively approved the release or reassignment of seven assistant principals.

But the district avoided layoffs by reassigning all seven to other schools or, in some cases, back into a classroom, Superintendent Darren Knowles said.

Redlands Unified School District

In February, the board voted to tentatively eliminate the equivalent of about 15 classroom positions, all from its preschool program.

Preschool will remain at Franklin, Lugonia and Victoria elementary schools because the State Preschool Program will be taken over by the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, spokesperson Carianne Mackamul-Covey said.

But no one was laid off as the district moved aides and teachers to other positions, Mackamul-Covey said.

Rialto Unified School District

In March, the district approved the potential cuts of 29 probationary certificated employees and 10 classified employees.

The district rescinded four layoff notices for classified employees because of retirements in the district, but six classified employees received layoff notices, spokesperson Syeda Jafri said.

While there were no teacher layoffs, the district did not renew the contracts for the 29 probationary employees, she said.

Riverside Unified School District

The Riverside school board in January approved the tentative reduction of 23 full-time-equivalent certificated employees, and roughly 50 classified positions, many of which are part-time. Many of the latter positions already were vacant.

The district rescinded the majority of its anticipated layoffs, but did cut two classified positions, spokesperson Elizabeth Pinney-Muglia said.

The tentative layoffs were based on conservative estimates about funding, enrollment, retirements, and other factors and by May the district had enough information on next year’s budget to finalize staffing, she said.

San Bernardino City Unified School District 

The board decided not to renew the contracts of five certificated employees and reassigned two others on March 5. It also approved eliminating the equivalent of about 11.5 full-time classified positions, and reductions in hours for 12 more.

The district ended up renewing contracts for four of the five probationary teachers and reassigned two administrators to other positions, spokesperson MaryRone Goodwin said.

The classified employees are still employed but have been reassigned to other vacant positions or will have reduced hours, she said.