The West Contra Costa Unified School District’s school board approved a plan Wednesday night that will cut educator and administrative positions and reduce funds for programs and supplies so it can stay fiscally solvent and avoid a state takeover.
District officials have been grappling with how to cut $32.7 million in costs between 2024 and 2027; cuts for the current school year total $19.7 million.
Cuts for the rest of the deficit, $13 million, will be spread out over the next two school years: $7 million in 2025-26 and $6 million in 2026-27. District officials warned it’s likely more reductions will occur after 2027.
Board members Leslie Reckler, Cinthia Hernandez and Guadalupe Enllana voted for the plan. Reckler, board president, said she voted for the solvency plan to “literally save the district.”
Trustee Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy was absent while trustee Jamela Smith-Folds abstained from voting.
“”
“This is an absolute necessity. We are staring down a dire fiscal situation.”
— Leslie Reckler, WCCUSD board president
“No one wants to do this; no one runs for office to do this; no one works here to do this,” Reckler said. “This is an absolute necessity. We are staring down a dire fiscal situation.”
“I want us to start coming together, and I think the way to say that is to abstain,” Smith-Folds said. “This is part of the board’s job that is the hardest because these numbers (budget cuts) are attached to people.”
According to district officials, declining enrollment, expiration of COVID relief funds, increased costs for special education programs, and underfunded mandates from state and federal governments are reasons the west Contra Costa district is strapped for cash. Districts across the state have been dealing with the same issues, including San Francisco and Oakland, where earlier this week Richmond teachers joined others in rallying for better education resources.
United Teachers of Richmond President Francisco Ortiz told the crowd Tuesday that school crises have been “manufactured by years of neglect, underfunding, and a refusal to prioritize the educators who make our schools work and those who rely on them — our students and our communities.” He continued: “The district will tell you that they don’t have the money. We refuse to accept a budget that tells our students to wait. We refuse to accept the system that normalizes long-term vacancies, overcrowded classrooms, and an exodus of educators.”
WCCUSD has history of budget challenges
It’s not the first time WCCUSD has faced challenging budget deficits. In 1991, the district became the first in the state to go insolvent and received a $29 million bailout loan, which took 21 years to pay off.
District officials presented a detailed list of staffing cuts — including teachers, social workers, speech therapists, assistant principals, and administrators — spanning from the 2025 school year through 2027. Over the next two school years, about 1.6% of staff in the teachers’ union will be let go for a total savings of about $3.7 million.
Cuts to educator positions are also coming during a time when West Contra Costa schools are struggling to fill vacant positions. Dozens of educators have, at various board meetings, expressed the hardships of not having fully staffed schools. Ortiz said last month that most schools have to use substitutes on a daily basis.
The majority of school budgets are used to pay staff salaries and benefits, district officials said. In WCCUSD that amounts to nearly 84%. This is the reason it wasn’t possible to avoid cutting staffing positions, district officials say.
Recent salary increases have also affected spending, district officials said. Salaries have increased 19.5% over the past five years, and benefits have increased by about 26%.
For the next school year, about $100,000 will be cut from the International Baccalaureate (IB) program; the high school theater budget will be reduced by $20,000, and art supplies by $14,000.
District officials said they are exploring other ways to save money that don’t impact the classroom, including increasing annual daily attendance, which is how the district is funded. For every 1% increase in attendance, the district would generate $2.75 million in additional state funding.
Oaklandside reporter Ashley McBride contributed to this report.
What I am asking is that you, the administrators, take time to think through thoroughly the least harm first to the children and next to the teachers. I now would like to offer a few fiscal suggestions. I suggest a freeze on promotions and salaries. I suggest having principals deliver their duties at multiple schools, say 3 to 4 schools rather than 1 school. Possibly utilizing administrative staff in the same way. Lastly, place a freeze on any type of supplies, both hard & paper, unless essential. I hope that you receive these ideas in the spirit that they were offered, the best way forward for the WCCUSD, as I am a product of the WCCUSD and I am supremely proud of saying. Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to contribute my thoughts.
WCCUSD has indeed been mismanaged. But ultimately, it’s the state of California that is responsible for providing sufficient funding to meet the needs of children — but it hasn’t. Instead, CA attends more to the supposed needs of the superrich, who have been allowed to accrue an ever greater share of the wealth. Richmondside reporting here isn’t helping: they state that teachers’ salaries have increased by 19.5% over five years — but inflation in this period was 21%! So really, staff salaries have been cut by 1.5%. Benefits have gone up because the costs of healthcare have risen much faster than inflation overall. You need to remind readers of that! Meanwhile, the state continues to defy the will of 2/3 of CA voters by denying us CalCare (medicare for all in CA) which would greatly benefit districts, staff, and millions of children who are un- or underinsured. (Killed in 2024 by our Assemblyperson, “Democrat” Buffy Wicks) Now democracy itself in the US is collapsing, in large part because “Democrats” across the country have failed to address economic inequality — not just in the schools, but in the living conditions of our students’ families. It is past time for this to change! UTR, I hope you will see the big picture and go on strike! Fellow teachers, if our unions fail us: Wildcat!