Overview:
The WCCUSD school board voted 3-2 in favor of employee raises and a raise for board members.
The district is saying that it will have to make steep cost-cutting measures.
More details about cuts and possible school mergers or closures are expected by Feb. 18.
Correction: This story was updated to correctly identify what choice sheets are.
The West Contra Costa Unified School District board approved contracts with its teachers, Teamsters members and administrators this week, more than a month after a four-day strike, locking in an 8% raise over two years and a commitment to fully fund employee healthcare by the 2027–28 school year.
The 3-2 Wednesday vote for the teachers contract exposed ongoing divisions over the district’s financial future, with trustees Jamela Smith-Folds and Leslie Reckler voting “no,” arguing that the district cannot afford the raises and warning of cuts to student programs, classes and potentially even school closures. Board members who voted in favor of the contracts said the district can no longer maintain the status quo, pointing to persistent teacher shortages and retention struggles that have left schools performing below the state average, alongside a steady decline in enrollment over the past decade.
“Sometimes you have to do (something) different to get different results,” said board president Guadalupe Ellana. “I think this gives us that opportunity (to think) of how we are gonna get ourselves to the next level and stop kicking the can down the road because I think we’ve done that for many, many years.”
The contracts are expected to worsen the district’s structural budget deficit. The additional $57.2 million in costs over the next three years will give the district a $127 million deficit. To close the gap, the district will need to make about $60 million in budget cuts and draw from two reserve funds to maintain a balanced budget, according to district officials. The district plans to draw $13 million annually from Fund 71, is a retiree benefit account, with no plan to refund those dollars.
Concerned about budget cuts?
WCCUSD Superintendent Cheryl Cotton has emphasized that community input is invaluable to impending cuts. She hosted two listening sessions last week. To share your thoughts, click on this survey or attend the next school board meeting.
“The district is looking at real cuts — a possible 10% cut to staff, possible elimination of centrally funded elementary music programs, possible elimination of seventh and eighth grades and K-8s,” Reckler said. “My vote is not a reflection of what staff deserves at all … The discussion is about what can be afforded, and I am deeply concerned that the school district does not have the resources to sustain this agreement.”
Smith-Folds expressed similar sentiments, though she voted in favor of the agreement for the Teamsters union, which represents custodians, security guards, food service and other essential workers. She said Teamsters have faced more layoffs over the past few years and also negotiated in better faith than the teachers.
The Teamsters ended their strike two days earlier than the teachers after reaching a tentative agreement that secured a 7% raise over two years and full healthcare benefits. However, because of a “me too” clause, the union automatically secures the highest compensation contract offered, which the teachers later negotiated. This clause applies to all other WCCUSD bargaining units except the United Teachers of Richmond.
Dozens of educators attended Wednesday’s meeting with heavy emotions. The general fear is that these budget cuts will hurt students and overburden teachers, ultimately undermining any benefit gained from higher pay.
“This agreement is about more than compensation. It’s about creating stability in our schools — stability that allows students to learn, educators to remain in the district and campuses to function as healthy communities,” said Haley Kaye, who works at Nystrom Elementary in Richmond. “Students have already faced the consequences of years of underinvestment.
“Cutting school supplies, maximizing class sizes, consolidating schools, or eliminating positions that provide student services will only deepen inequities and disrupt learning.”
Others expressed frustration that the district’s financial outlook, shared last week, relies almost entirely on cuts to balance the budget, without addressing potential revenue sources such as a parcel tax renewal (which the district hopes to bring to voters later this year), grants, or strategies to increase enrollment.
The district is also poised to receive more state funding under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2026-27 proposed budget, with an unanticipated $22 billion in additional funding for TK-12 schools and community colleges, beyond what was projected in the 2025-26 budget passed by the Legislature in June.
This will raise state funding per student under Prop. 98 to a record $20,427 in 2026-27 from the $18,900 it was in 2025.
“So why are we talking about cutting the people who are instrumental in making this place run? asked Bill Hodges, a Hercules Middle School science teacher. “It’s not acceptable. It’s totally inappropriate. It’s mind-boggling. It’s … extremely disappointing.”
School board also votes 3-2 to OK raises for itself
The board also voted 3-2 Wednesday night to approve raises for board members. Board members are elected by local residents and it is considered a part-time job. Previously, trustees earned about $850 per month. Under the new policy, they can earn up to $2,000 per month, depending upon how many meetings they attend. Smith-Folds and Reckler also voted against the raises.
Board clerk Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy said the raises have a very small fiscal impact, but for individuals it can make a big difference. He also said the raises may encourage more people to run for the school board, especially in this upcoming election cycle. In 2024, trustees Cynthia Hernandez and Smith-Folds ran unopposed. He also noted not everyone has the privilege of taking time to serve in a public office.
But Smith-Folds pushed back on it, saying, “It’s absolutely ridiculous and devaluing for this board to accept a raise,” considering the impending cuts.
“It is not privilege, it is not elitist, it is leadership,” she said passionately. “I will not vote for a raise when we are in so much financial trouble.”
Reckler worried that approving the raise violates the district’s bylaws — specifically Board Policy 9310, which requires two readings of a policy to ensure public input and engagement and thorough board discussion.
What’s next for the WCCUSD budget?
With the union agreements ratified, the raises went into effect Thursday. Retroactive pay, for the time period during which teachers and Teamsters were working without contracts, will be doled out in mid-March. Those who joined the strikes will also see a dock in pay in that same time period, district officials said.
Now, district officials will shift to sharing more specifics about which positions, programs and other district operations are on the chopping block.
The district plans to use choice sheets, which students use to rank their interest in classes, to help make decisions about where to make cuts. These are due on Feb. 6.
On Feb. 18 the school board is expected to review an equity impact report that will detail the impact of cuts on schools.
On Feb. 25, the board is scheduled to hold its final vote on the budget and by March 13, staff will know the status of their employment for the next school year, including whether they could be laid off.
So far, WCCUSD officials have shared that the district is considering laying off up to 10% of staff from each bargaining unit. For a union such as UTR, which represents about 1,400 educators, the equivalent of about 140 fulltime jobs could be eliminated. The Teamsters have about the same number of members. District officials estimate this could save about $4.1 million.
The district is considering consolidating school sites and classrooms in response to declining enrollment. Officials say “right-sizing” staffing and class sizes next year could save $5 million at elementary schools and $5.3 million at secondary schools, according to data shared by Carter.
Potential middle school mergers — which could affect campuses with less than than 400 students, including Betty Reid Soskin, Lovonya DeJean and Pinole Middle Schools — could save nearly $1 million, while transferring students from K–8 schools to traditional middle schools could save another $1.5 million. District leaders are also discussing eliminating seventh-period classes at high schools, which would reduce elective and pathway offerings.
Natalie Tovani-Walchuk, chief impact officer for GO Public Schools, said she has never seen proposed cuts be so close to students. The nonprofit offers resources for parents to become advocates and tracks data for public schools to help inform decision making.
“A lot of things that are being tossed out are very close to children and have a high likelihood of decreasing enrollment,” Tovani-Walchuk told Richmondside. “And if you lose any quantity of kids, you’ve actually lost more than you gained by an unthoughtful cut.”
Tovani-Walchuk, a Richmond native and former educator who has been working with WCCUSD schools for the past several years, said she is “absolutely shocked” by several of the proposals.
The most jarring: Potentially moving seventh- and eighth-graders from K-8 schools to a traditional middle school, which usually encompasses grades sixt–through-eight.
“Let me tell you, parents deeply value the K-8 and it’s actually been a savior for enrollment … Middle School is one of the hardest places for a family and creates incredible fear for them,” Tovani-Walchuk said, noting that the district’s three K-eight schools (which were established about five years ago) were the result of community advocacy. “What’s being proposed is totally detached from both best practice and the broader educational universe, and definitely not from educator or parent preference.”
Choice sheets are how high school students indicate their course selection preferences for the next school year. Their results are used to determine how many sections of each course are offered.
You should really correct your incorrect description of choice sheets in the article if you expect folks to believe what you say.
Hi Allison, The story has been corrected. We appreciate you alerting us to the error. The reporter was out of the office Friday so we addressed it as soon as we were able to.