WCCUSD budget cut vote delayed due to lack of a quorum

Wednesday night’s WCCUSD school board meeting was unexpectedly canceled when the district discovered it wouldn’t have a quorum.

The meeting was an important one as the board had planned to vote on whether to cut $13 million from the 2025-26 and 2026-27 operating budgets. 

West Contra Costa Unified School District Area 2 Trustee Guadalupe Enllana had arranged to attend remotely — an option allowed under “just cause” in the Brown Act. Demetrio Gonzalez Hoy, who represents Area 4, told Richmonside he planned to be absent as he is on parental leave this week. He said that Jamela Smith-Folds, who represents Area 1, had an unexpected emergency.

Although the five-member board only needs three members for a quorum, if one joins remotely, at least three members must participate in person. Because only members Leslie Reckler and Cinthia Hernandez were physically there, this requirement wasn’t met, and the meeting couldn’t be held.

“A highly unusual set of circumstances unfolded at the last minute,” board President Leslie Reckler told Richmondside. “We worked for 30 minutes to get quorum, and when it was apparent it wasn’t going to happen, we followed the law and canceled the meeting.”

A sign was posted on the door of the Lovonya DeJean Middle School Multipurpose Room, explaining the situation and the board’s plan to reschedule the meeting. 

Those waiting for the meeting to start on Zoom didn’t receive any notice. The district did post about the cancellation on social media. 

The Contra Costa Office of Education notified the district in September that it would need to act on a list of budget reductions and “adopt a resolution to reduce or eliminate particular kinds of services” by Feb. 12.

The district did not immediately respond to questions about when the canceled meeting will be rescheduled. The board’s next regularly scheduled meeting is Feb. 12.