Modesto City Schools authorizes 30 layoffs, assures effort to reassign some
The Modesto City Schools Board of Education on Monday night authorized layoffs, anticipating that at least 21 people will receive notices ahead of the March 15 deadline for layoff notification. A total of 30 positions will be cut, including the nine campus supervisor positions approved in November 2024.
The action was approved by a 5-0 vote, with board President Homero Mejia and Vice President Jolene Daly absent. No teaching positions are impacted by the layoffs.
The district said human resources staff will work with those who receive layoff notices to reassign them or train them for reassignment. Those who aren’t reassigned will be let go at the end of the 2025-26 school year.
Some of the decisions on layoffs will be based on enrollment rates at various schools.
According to Associate Superintendent Mike Henderson, several of the cuts are a reduction of hours or an elimination of partial positions.
“I remind everyone that when we issue a layoff notice, this does not mean that every employee who receives a notice will experience job loss. Many changes occur between now and the summer, and in most cases, positions are restored or employees have opportunities to fill other vacancies,” Superintendent Vanessa Buitrago said.
“This is important to explain because I know that this is kind of the time of year where people are experiencing angst and stress and that stress is real,” she continued.
During the 2025 round of layoffs at the district, 44 of the 47 staff members laid off were reassigned, though many were at reduced compensation and hours.
“I do want to acknowledge all the work that the district has put in already to ensure that as few people as possible end up being completely displaced or no longer having a job,” California School Employees Association Chapter 7 President Fawn Peterson said. “I would like to know … how many actually won’t find a place to land within the district.”
She added that per their contracts, positions that are no longer funded by the district cannot be outsourced or shifted to another employee, unless that employee’s hours and work are reduced in another capacity.
School districts statewide are issuing layoffs by the hundreds this year. The Oakland Unified School District authorized 400 layoffs, Sacramento City Unified authorized 800 layoffs, and Fresno Unified authorized 274 layoffs. Most are hoping to reassign as many employees as they can.
“I would be remiss to ignore the thousands of layoffs projected across our state. Surrounding districts are preparing to issue anywhere from 250 to 800 layoff notices by the end of this week,” Buitrago said. “MCS has the opportunity to learn from small and large districts alike that find themselves with a negative fiscal rating, a rating that signals an inability to pay the bills.”
This story was originally published March 10, 2026 at 5:54 PM with the headline "Modesto City Schools authorizes 30 layoffs, assures effort to reassign some."
