Modesto City Schools’ Board of Education approves layoffs of over 75 staff members
Modesto City Schools’ Board of Education voted 5 to 2 to approve a plan to lay off 75 district employees as part of an estimated $10.6 million budget reduction.
This change of funding, announced during Monday night’s board meeting, will affect the 2025-26 school year. During its Nov. 12 meeting, the district originally estimated $11.5 million budget reductions.
Around 36 classified employees, instead of 54, are expected to be laid off at the end of the current school year. In addition, layoffs are to include 22 certificated staff and 17 management positions.
Affected employees will include teachers, paraprofessionals, MTSS (Multi-tiered System of Support) site coaches, campus supervisors, student support administrators, school support managers and school secretaries.
During public comment at the board meeting, some speakers expressed frustration that employees of the district office were not included in the cuts.
Mary Mageean Morado, a second-grade teacher at Kirschen Elementary, asked the superintendent why, if “everything was on the plate,” district-level management positions were not combined, eliminated or reduced.
“...The essential information that was omitted is that those management cuts represent school site-based classified management,” Morado said. “Not one of the much higher compensated certificated managers from the district office is proposed to be cut.”
The district said it is required to make cuts and reallocate the budget because COVID-19 pandemic-response funds from the state and federal governments will not be renewed.
District officials also said that next year, there will be another process to eliminate an additional $11 million from the 2026-27 school year budget.
Superintendent Sara Noguchi said the Board of Education made a difficult but necessary decision to consider the district’s long-term fiscal health.
“This decision allows us to maintain core services essential to student learning and well-being, including in areas such as academic support, student safety, mental health support and equitable access to resources,” she said. “Even with the proposed reductions, I am confident that our students will continue to benefit from the innovative programs developed to address learning challenges post-COVID.”
This story was originally published November 19, 2024 at 2:00 PM.
CORRECTION: The story has been updated to reflect the Board of Education vote tally of 5-2 in support of the proposed budget reductions.
