LAUSD to weigh thousands of layoff notices amid $877 million budget deficit

The Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education is set to consider authorizing thousands of preliminary layoff notices today as the nation’s second-largest school system moves to address a projected structural deficit of $877 million in the 2026-2027 school year.

The proposal would allow the district to issue March 15 notices to around 2,600 contract management employees and certificated administrators and begin a reduction in force affecting 657 central office and centrally funded classified positions, according to the board report. It also includes reductions in hours for 52 positions and reduced pay for 22 others.

The proposal does not include any classroom teaching positions, a Los Angeles Unified spokesperson said Monday.

The spokesperson added that the total number of employees who will ultimately receive preliminary March 15 or reduction-in-force notices has not yet been determined. The roughly 2,600 management and administrative notices are separate from the 657 identified classified closures, the district said.

Labor groups have already urged the board to delay action. In a Feb. 6 letter to the Board of Education, United Teachers Los Angeles, SEIU Local 99 and Associated Administrators of Los Angeles called on members not to vote on reduction-in-force notices before updated state revenue forecasts are incorporated into the budget.

The unions argued that December and January state tax collections have “far exceeded projections in the Governor’s draft budget” and said the board should schedule a stand-alone meeting in early March to consider potential layoffs after a clearer picture of Proposition 98 funding — the state’s constitutional formula that guarantees minimum funding for K-12 schools — emerges.

“RIFs throw employees, our families, and our students into a cruel period of uncertainty, stress, and panic,” the letter states.

The district said it does not view the proposed notices as connected to ongoing contract negotiations with labor groups.

Max Arias, executive director of SEIU Local 99, which represents classified employees such as teacher assistants, bus drivers, custodians and cafeteria workers, said in a statement Monday that the proposed reductions would harm essential school workers.

“Classified education workers are the backbone of this district,” Arias said. “You cannot talk about student achievement while cutting the very adults students rely on every day. If LAUSD truly prioritizes students, it must prioritize the workers who serve them.”

Arias also challenged the district’s financial framing, noting that classified employees made up 39% of the workforce but account for roughly 12% of the district’s budget. He said the district is holding nearly $5 billion in reserves and argued that it should prioritize investment in its workforce over cuts.

District officials say the action is necessary to comply with state Education Code deadlines and to address what they describe as a structural budget imbalance driven by enrollment declines and the expiration of one-time COVID-19 relief funds. In its First Interim Financial Report released in December, LAUSD projected a $877 million deficit — about 14% of its unrestricted general fund expenditures — for the 2026–27 school year, followed by a $443 million deficit the year after.

“It is worth noting that these are dangerously high deficit levels for a public education institution, and more importantly, signal a significant structural imbalance, not a temporary dip,” the board report states.

The report also warns that failing to authorize the notices now could require significantly deeper reductions next year, potentially affecting nearly 5,000 positions with an estimated value of $450 million if fiscal conditions do not improve.

While 657 classified positions have been identified for closure, the district spokesperson said the final number of layoffs has not yet been determined and is expected to be lower due to retirements and other personnel moves.

To comply with state law, however, the district must issue preliminary reduction-in-force notices to more employees than the number of positions ultimately eliminated because of seniority and “bumping” rules.

Under the proposed timeline, final layoff notices would not be issued until later this spring, after required hearings for classified staff and prior to the June 30 deadline outlined in the board report.