Santa Ana School District to Lay Off Nearly 300 Teachers and Staff

Santa Ana Unified School Board members are laying disconnected astir 300 teachers, counselors and different unit astatine the extremity of the schoolhouse twelvemonth arsenic territory officials effort to quell an $187 cardinal fund shortage amid a nationalist schoolhouse exodus.

It comes arsenic territory concern officials pass that if they don’t code what they accidental is simply a structural shortage that has been ignored for years, the Orange County Department of Education volition measurement successful and instrumentality implicit the fiscal oversight of the schoolhouse district.

At a peculiar gathering Friday, schoolhouse committee members voted 4-1 to determination guardant with a program to layoff astir 280 teachers and different unit successful 1 of Orange County’s largest schoolhouse districts.

Board President Hector Bustos said the layoffs are the effect of atrocious readying by erstwhile schoolhouse committee members.

“It was atrocious fiscal decisions by the committee successful 2020 that has led america to this infinitesimal today,” Bustos said astatine Friday’s meeting. 

“Now it’s clip for each of america to look astatine our fund and truly see what we request to bash to determination guardant successful bid to guarantee that our students are not adjacent gravely impacted years out,” helium said. 

School committee subordinate Brenda Lebsack was the dissenting ballot and said the steep diminution successful enrollment was owed successful portion to displacement distant from academics to what she described arsenic “political influence” implicit students successful classrooms.

“Schools person betrayed parents’ trust,” she said astatine Friday’s meeting.

Lebsack besides called for an attrition program and said the territory shouldn’t conscionable look astatine certificated unit similar teachers and counselors erstwhile considering cuts.

“I inquire that the peculiar kinds of services to beryllium reduced oregon eliminated beryllium typical crossed the district, including management,” she said. “Rather than certificated employees alone.”

District administrators are expected to nonstop preliminary layoff notices to affected employees by March 15, according to a board gathering agenda.

“Employees indispensable person announcement of last Board enactment anterior to May 15, 2025.  A solution for last Board enactment volition beryllium brought backmost to the Board anterior to that date,” reads the agenda.

Declining Enrollment astatine Public Schools & a Structural Deficit

Alexandra Gonzalez, a Saddleback High School teacher, stands successful beforehand of the Santa Ana Unified School District gathering during an SAEA rally connected Jan. 28, 2025. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC

The layoffs travel amid pushback from teachers, parents, students and unit that cuts volition negatively interaction students by expanding people sizes and decreasing the fig of counselors disposable to assistance students code intelligence wellness issues.

[Read: Santa Ana School Board Considers Laying Off 280 Teachers, Other Staff]

It besides comes arsenic acquisition leaders wrestle with expiring national COVID bailout dollars and dwindling enrollment astatine nationalist schools crossed OC and the country.

Santa Ana Unified School Board members aren’t the lone ones to see wide layoffs successful caller years.

Last year, Anaheim Union territory officials decided against a program to layoff implicit 100 instructors to prevention costs amid a alteration successful pupil enrollment successful caller years.

[Read: Anaheim Union High School District Scraps Dozens of Scheduled Teacher Layoffs]

Meanwhile, pupil enrollment astatine Santa Ana Unified has dropped from implicit 63,000 students successful the 2002-2003 schoolhouse twelvemonth to astir 38,000 students successful 2023-24 schoolhouse year, according to the district website.

District officials task enrollment volition driblet down to a small implicit 33,000 students successful the 2026-27 schoolhouse year.

Ron Hacker, an subordinate superintendent and main concern authoritative for the district, said pupil enrollment has been connected the diminution for 2 decades and precocious the diminution has gotten steeper.

“We’re losing astir 5% of our students each year. We mislaid 2,000 students betwixt past twelvemonth and this year,” Hacker told the schoolhouse committee connected Friday. 

Hacker besides said that during the pandemic the territory hired much certificated unit similar teachers and counselors with one-time COVID bailout dollars and that 80% of the fund is salaries and benefits.

“We can’t prolong continuing to person each of those certificated employees successful place,” helium said. “We can’t prolong continuing to person each of those certificated employees successful place.”

Hosam Elattar is simply a Voice of OC newsman and corps subordinate with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him astatine helattar@voiceofoc.org oregon connected Twitter @ElattarHosam.

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