Berkeley teachers and other schools staff face possible layoffs amid budget shortfalls

Berkeley Unified sent a notice of potential layoffs to staff on Thursday morning. The school district, which has been working to balance an $8 million budget deficit for next year, is the latest in the Bay Area to begin layoff discussions. 

Superintendent Enikia Ford Morthel told staff in an email that the district will be sending out “March 15 notices,” identifying positions that may be eliminated before the start of next school year. Final decisions have not been made at BUSD, she said, but California law requires districts to inform employees about possible changes in duties or assignments by that date to provide them time to find other jobs if they choose. 

“We, like many other California school districts, have to prepare for fiscal uncertainty and bleak funding news,” Ford Morthel told staff in an email. “This new set of reductions requires us to make difficult decisions.”

BUSD has attributed budget shortfalls to the loss of federal COVID-19 recovery funds, expiring grants and flat enrollment across the district. 

Ford Morthel said notifying staff of possible layoffs is not uncommon in BUSD. For this school year, the district cut over $7 million in budget expenses, she said in the email. Notices were also sent out this time last year, and board members last May approved 20 layoffs, which included staff in the Office of Family Engagement and Equity and instructional aides but no teachers. Ultimately, only one position ended up being eliminated, with 13 others seeing reductions, according to BUSD.

It is uncertain how many employees might be let go at the end of this school year.

The school board will review a list of recommendations at its next meeting on Wednesday to reduce or eliminate certificated and classified staff positions. Any staff selected for layoffs will receive final notices by May 15, and their last date of work will be June 30. Other employees in positions flagged for potential future layoffs will receive notification by March 15. Employees who receive a March 15 notice have the right to request a hearing to “voice their concerns” within seven days of receiving the letter. 

Ford Morthel said “every attempt” is made to reassign workers. Officials said the district closed vacant positions and evaluated program costs and other expenses for redundancies before deciding to consolidate staff positions.

Berkeley Federation of Teachers President Matt Meyer said he worries the notices will go to people in positions that the district already has a hard time keeping staffed. 

“At times of already increased anxiety in our public education universe, not knowing whether you will be employed or not will negatively impact staff morale and impact our ability to best serve students,” Meyer said in a statement Friday. “Rather than this massive layoff notice of our educators and staff at school sites, the district should have pushed up its decision making timelines so that unnecessary pink slips could have been prevented.”

The Berkeley Council of Classified Employees did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

Impacted positions could include site and district office employees, such as administrators in interim assignments and certified staff on probation, according to BUSD’s layoff notice FAQ, which was attached to the email sent to staff Thursday. Which staff receive notices can depend on many factors, such as positions or programs running out of “soft funding” from Parent Teacher Associations or expiring grants. BUSD said notices are not related to job performance.

Meyer said, if the past is a precedent, classroom teachers and support staff will receive these notices, many will be rescinded as funding is approved, and BUSD may lose staff who find employment elsewhere.

Officials will provide more information about the district’s fiscal forecast at the March 19 school board meeting, BUSD spokesperson Trish McDermott said in an email.

School districts in California, Bay Area feeling the squeeze 

Districts all over the state are reducing staff and making further cuts to various programs and services for the 2025-2026 school year, BUSD officials noted in the FAQ.

At Oakland Unified, hundreds of jobs, including 500 teacher positions, were slashed after the school board approved layoffs Wednesday night to plug a $95 million hole in the budget, The Oaklandside reported. An alternative budget proposal could reinstate some of the positions. 

In San Francisco, the district school board on Tuesday approved a plan to send layoff notices to more than 500 teachers and support staff in response to a $113 million budget deficit. 

Ford Morthel told BUSD staff she was grateful for the work they do to support students and families and said every employee is critical to upholding the district’s mission. 

“We have been through a lot together, in the last two years, BUSD,” Ford Morthel told staff in the email. “We will continue to hold these principles as we navigate the next few months, engaging in a thoughtful budgeting process before making any final decisions about resource allocation, changes to programs, or changes to personnel.”

Featured photo: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside/CatchLight Local