‘We can’t vote on hope’: West Contra Costa school board slashes hundreds of positions

RICHMOND — Another round of major budget cuts hit the West Contra Costa Unified School District, leaving nearly 200 district employees bracing for pink slips on the heels of a major contract win.

With a two-year $87 million budget deficit looming, district trustees agreed to reduce staffing by 324 positions. Of those, 186 are expected to be through layoffs and 138 from existing vacancies.

All departments, from administrators to gardeners and cafeteria workers to teachers and classroom aides, will be impacted by the reductions, approved by trustees during their Wednesday meeting.

School staff, students and community members packed the Lovonya DeJean Middle School multipurpose room to implore trustees to vote against the cuts. Students said they’ve benefited greatly from programs where cuts will be made, like music and theater or the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, a federally funded character building program the district matches.

Campus maintenance, food, security and support staff, represented by Teamsters Local 856, said their working conditions will become unsafe because of the reductions. Workloads will become untenable for all, they and educators agreed. The elimination of a glass glazier, someone responsible for replacing broken windows on campuses, would leave the district with one person qualified to do the job, a particular concern for Teamsters who noted sheets of glass are heavy and hard to move and install alone.

United Teachers of Richmond President Francisco Ortiz questioned district spending, asserting it spent $8 million over what was approved in the last budget on things like conference travel. Some of that spending came from restricted dollars that had to go toward specific areas, said Jeff Carter, acting assistant superintendent of Business Services. Unrestricted travel has been frozen as of December 2025, Carter added.

The union, which represents about 1,400 educators, counselors and other education professionals, has also demanded the district cut from the roughly $117 million worth of contracts rather than in-house staff and services.

“Where’s the accountability for spending like drunken sailors in this district?” Ortiz said. “Priorities, that’s where you’re lacking at this point, and real accountability.”

The cuts follow a major contract win for both unions. Members launched a strike in December 2025 that landed them 8% raises over the next two years and 100% employer-funded health care by mid 2027, among other work condition improvements. The contracts are valued at about $90 million combined over three years.

Administrators warned that budget cuts would be likely if they were to meet union demands. They’d initially offered 0% raises when contract negotiations first began.

Financial instability and substantial budget cuts have long been part of the district’s story. It was the first in the state to declare bankruptcy in 1991, requiring a $28.5 million state loan that was repaid in 2012.

The district is still under threat of losing local control, meaning budgeting decisions would fall to the Contra Costa County Office of Education or state. Trustees have committed to reducing the budget by $127.1 million by fiscal year 2027-28 in a new fiscal solvency plan adopted Feb. 11. A previous fiscal solvency plan called for $32.7 million in reductions to be made between the 2024-25 and 2026-27 school years.

Dipping enrollment, a key factor for determining state funding, and rising labor and operational costs have led to revenue not keeping up with expenses, district office staff have routinely said. A total of 24,792 students are currently enrolled, compared to 28,247 pre-pandemic.

Having to make staffing reductions was not what the district wanted, but overpromising is what has led to Wednesday’s vote, Trustee Jamela Smith-Folds said. The district also plans to drain $28.5 million from a reserve fund and to borrow $39 million from a retiree health fund to help balance the budget in the coming years.

Trustee Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy argued that some cuts could be avoided if the district took into consideration an increase in funding that’s been proposed in the latest state budgeting process. But heeding advice from finance staff, Smith-Folds said the most prudent measure would be to replenish funds being used to cover existing budget caps.

“We cannot vote on hope,” Smith-Folds said.

Attempts by Gonzalez-Hoy and Trustee Cinthia Hernandez to remove some positions like music teachers from the list of reductions were unsuccessful but the board did agree to allow the Contract Review Committee to consider where contracts can be cut to fund music programming.

Those possible adjustments would come back before the board for a vote.

Retirement incentives will be offered to some qualified administrators and pink slips will be sent to impacted staff in the coming months and layoffs taking effect at the end of the school year. Some positions may be saved, depending on what grant funding is provided to the district.

Superintendent Cheryl Cotton said school community outreach workers will also be invited back after a new job description is written that will allow the roles to be funded with restricted funds.