Vallejo schools could cut 30% of staff over next three years

VALLEJO – The Vallejo City Unified School District could cut 30% of its staff over the next three years as the district struggles to remain fiscally solvent amid declining enrollment.

Superintendent Rubén Aurelio said that the district is considering making large staffing reductions during a school board study session on school closures and consolidations last week.

“What we can’t do is pay everybody we have at the same level,” Aurelio said. “We’ve already started that planning process as an executive cabinet and we’re going pretty aggressive in what we’re looking at. I’ve tasked the cabinet to think about what it would look like if we reduced our workforce by 30%.”

In an email to the Vallejo Sun, spokesperson Celina Baguiao said that “the district remains in the information-gathering and planning phase,” and that “the 30 percent reduction is not predetermined; it is one of several scenarios under review as we work to address long-term financial challenges.” 

Baguiao said that the 30% staffing reductions, should they occur, would not happen all at once, but would instead be spread over three years, and the board would have to vote to approve any cuts.

The district currently employs around 1,200 people, according to Baguiao, so a 30% reduction would mean about 350 people would lose their jobs.

Since he became superintendent in July 2024, Aurelio has attributed the district’s need for cuts to reduced funding due to declining enrollment, the expiration of COVID-19 relief funding, and rising costs. Earlier this year, the district projected that it will have a deficit of $20 to $30 million dollars for the current and next three school years. To deal with the projected deficits, the school board agreed to close two schools in February: Mare Island Health and Fitness Academy and Loma Vista Environmental Science Academy, and cut about 75 staff positions.

In late June, the district exited 20 years of state receivership that stemmed from almost going bankrupt in the early 2000s. While under receivership, the state bailed the district out but, in exchange, the district lost much of its decision making powers. During the study session, Aurelio said that the district was facing pressure from the County Office of Education to stay fiscally solvent, and is under threat of entering into receivership again.

Baguiao told the Sun that “without taking action, the district risks deeper cuts from a state takeover and a loss of local control.”

The district is again considering closing schools. Aurelio has said the board plans to make a decision in December on closures and consolidations that could potentially affect seven campuses. The board is currently considering closing Cooper, Federal Terrace, Highland, Lincoln, Pennycook, and Steffan Manor elementary schools, although all six will not be closed

In July, Aurelio recommended prioritizing Lincoln, Pennycook, and Cooper for closure to a district committee tasked with recommending school closures.  In August, the committee recommended closing Lincoln and Pennycook.

During the study session last week, the board discussed a report that analyzed the equity impacts of the different closure options for the seven campuses. Aurelio said that “no one wants to close schools,” while also emphasizing that the district’s finances made it necessary. He called closing schools a “drop in the bucket,” and said that staffing reductions would be much more impactful for saving money and stabilizing the district’s budget.

“This isn’t the big piece of the puzzle,” Aurelio said. “The 30%, the thing that comes next, is the big piece.”

The cuts in February included classified staff, such as teaching assistants and custodians, certificated staff, such as teachers and nurses, and administrators and managers. While classified staff, generally the lowest paid positions, make up about 50% of the district’s staff, they made up about 63% of the positions cut.

According to data from the California Department of Education from last school year, the district has a higher ratio of administrators to teachers than both the county and state averages. Vallejo Unified had a ratio of about one administrator for every 8.3 teachers, while all Solano County non-charter public schools had a ratio of about one administrator for every 9.4 teachers, and the state’s ratio was about one to 10.4. 

During the study session, Aurelio said that the staffing cuts he anticipates occurring in the future would include staff members, administrators, teachers and classified positions. He didn’t indicate if any positions would be prioritized over others. 

Loree Tackmier, who has taught kindergarten and transitional kindergarten in VCUSD for over 25 years, told the Sun that she feels Aurelio is “working to do what’s right for our district and to keep it out of receivership,” but she thinks if cuts must occur, administrators and managers, which are often the highest paid positions, should be prioritized.

“We need cuts at the top,” Tackmier said. “I hope the cuts would be further away from the classroom instead of closer.”