Got questions about the BUSD budget and layoffs? Tune in Thursday to a virtual town hall

The Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) will host a virtual town hall on Thursday to explain its budget process, review state funding, and provide updates about potential layoff and reassignment notices given to hundreds of staff in early March. Some employees recently had their notices rescinded as officials continue to make progress on balancing a more than $7 million budget deficit.

Employees whose jobs may be on the line include some in contract positions, such as teachers on special assignment, which were not originally included in recent school board resolutions. Officials said the “vast majority” of notices sent to certified employees, or classroom positions that require a license, were for possible reassignments. Twenty-two received notices of potential layoff. 

According to BUSD Superintendent Enikia Ford Morthel, 373 employees in total — 191 certified and 182 classified — received notices. The group includes union and non-union workers, she said. Any staff selected for layoffs will receive final notices by May 15, and their last work date will be June 30. 

“Like many other California school districts, BUSD finds itself in uneasy fiscal times, facing rising costs and bleak state funding news,” Ford Morthel said Friday in an email to the BUSD community. 

The budget town hall will be on Zoom this Thursday from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Spanish interpretation will be available.

BUSD parents, caregivers, high school students and staff can also provide feedback on the district’s budgeting process through an online survey, which is available in English and Spanish. The survey closes this Tuesday at 5 p.m.

BUSD rescinds some notices, signals more possible

During last week’s school board meeting, officials provided updates on the budget-balancing process, including news that 45 part-time school campus aides (comparable to nearly 12 full-time equivalent positions) had their notices rescinded. Other employees saved from elimination or reduction included a budget analyst, a senior communications officer, and a Title IX coordinator.

The district began rescinding notices prior to the start of spring break on March 31, said Ford Morthel, and could take back more if the budget permits. “As soon as we get information that allows us to ensure that we’ll be able to pay their salary and their benefits, we will rescind and provide updates.”

The superintendent also provided clarification and explanations on Wednesday for layoff notices impacting specific BUSD student programs and services in a presentation with Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Samantha Tobias-Espinosa and Associate Superintendent of Education Services Jill Hoogendyk. 

One of those programs, the Berkeley Public School Gardening and Cooking Program, is at risk of losing one full-time equivalent (FTE) nutrition education program supervisor, more than 10 FTE instructional specialists in cooking and gardening, and additional part-time positions including instructional specialists in cooking and career technical education teachers. District officials say the program has seen increased costs, while relying on temporary grant funding.

BUSD officials also explained why all nine coordinators in the district’s after-school program LEARNS received notices that their positions might be reduced or eliminated for the next school year. Tobias-Espinosa said the program supporting the coordinators has only existed for two years and was designed as a sort of pilot to “fix some issues” in the after-school program. She said the district will reevaluate LEARNS’ staffing structure to “maximize enrollment capacity” and noted that the noticed positions don’t count toward the student-to-staff ratio.

Tobias-Espinosa said “we were very careful about who we noticed” in the afterschool program, and clarified that having these positions does not determine the amount of kids LEARNS can serve. She said they do not want to lay off employees and have contractors replace them.

“I think this is a perfect example of jobs that we really need to think about the position, and not the people,” BUSD Director Jennifer Shanoski said during the board meeting Wednesday. “I know that the people in these positions are beloved people, and so that is really difficult.”

Twelve FTE specialists, a bilingual specialist and a supervisor were sent notices in the Office of Family Engagement and Equity. District officials said some of these positions were paid for by temporary funding, and said they may need to request board approval to use Local Control and Accountability Plan reserves to continue supporting them.

BUSD officials also discussed the 10 notices that were sent to middle and high school counselors across the district. The positions include intervention and academic counselors, and program-specific roles in the Bridge and Puente programs, which help low-income and marginalized students apply for college. 

Officials said the district would be reevaluating the staffing structure for these roles with an eye on reducing redundancies, and that some counselors could be reassigned to schools where there is a higher need for the counseling services.

“We’d love to have a counselor for every grade level at every school, but we don’t have enough money to be able to do that,” Hoogendyk said. “But is there a different way for us to look at how those services are delivered with potentially a smaller number of counselors?”

Katie Miller, a counselor at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, spoke against the idea of reassignments. 

“Transferring counselors between sites may seem like a solution, but it risks losing the valuable institutional knowledge that is built over time,” she said. “Every school has its unique culture, its own needs, and we know these students.”

Tobias-Espinosa said laid off staff will be placed on a rehire list and are contacted before any external applicants if the position reopens. BUSD can “technically” rescind layoff notices after May 14, she said, but “the people may not be there.”