San Diego Unified published plans to cut 438 jobs spanning many sectors of the district, from elementary classrooms to special education to daily operations, next school year.
The layoffs aim to help the district, which has more than 12,000 employees, bridge a $94 million unrestricted budget gap for next school year that district officials identified last month. More than 90 percent of the district’s unrestricted budget goes to staffing costs.
Many staff in the affected positions will get notices of potential layoffs by next week; other jobs being eliminated are already vacant, officials said.
The school board will officially vote on the cuts at a 5 p.m. meeting Tuesday at the Eugene Brucker Education Center at 4100 Normal Street.
Under the plans published ahead of the meeting, about 220 jobs that require education credentials would be cut — including about 94 elementary teachers, 21 instructional coordinators, an additional 21 central office administrators, five vice principals and one principal.
The hundreds of other cuts would hit bus drivers, food service workers, family services assistants, front-office staff, administrative assistants, noon duty assistants, library assistants, special education staff, behavior support specialists, maintenance workers, relief custodians, police officers, auditors, translators, human resources staff and more.
The full list of positions being cut is posted on the school board agenda’s attachments.
The notices mean that the district believes it must reduce or eliminate those employees’ positions for financial reasons. Not all staff affected will necessarily be laid off. Some will be reassigned to other jobs in the district.
Impacted employees will be notified of potential layoff or reassignment from Friday through March 13, according to a district budget presentation. Layoffs will be made final before May 15.
District officials said they are trying to exhaust other options before laying off staff, including eliminating already-vacant positions when possible.
The district’s budget gap comes as federal COVID-19 relief funds are drying up this fall, the state faces a significant budget deficit and the district’s enrollment continues to decline. San Diego Unified also raised its costs last year when it approved 15 percent employee raises.
San Diego Unified is not alone — many other school districts in the county are also in the midst of cutting positions, including Coronado Unified, Lakeside Union, Mountain Empire Unified and Chula Vista Elementary.
