Dr. Elizabeth Blanco (Photo – PUSD)
A message from Interim Superintendent, Elizabeth Blanco, to the community regarding Pasadena Unified’s layoffs.
By News Desk
“Dear Pasadena Unified Community,
Last night, the Board of Education made a very difficult decision to protect the quality of education and services that students receive while implementing a fiscal stability plan required by the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) to keep our district solvent.
The Board authorized district staff to issue preliminary layoff notices, formally known as Reduction in Force (RIF), for 224 positions by the statutory deadline of March 15, 2024. 91 – nearly half – of the positions are currently vacant.
Like many school districts in California, PUSD is facing major budget challenges over the next three years that must be addressed beginning with the 2024-2025 school year. As we have seen by California’s worsening fiscal conditions, the situation for education funding continues to change. PUSD will be adjusting to ongoing State budget developments in the coming months, and we will keep you informed. Our hope is that we can save some positions before the statutory deadline for final layoff notices in mid-May.
The reductions are necessary because of the lapsing of one-time COVID-19 funding (ESSER), expected reductions in state funding, a decline in enrollment, and the need to allocate our resources responsibly.
These decisions have not been made lightly, and come only after thoughtful and careful consideration. We have done our best to keep reductions away from students and schools, including making the biggest reduction of 30% to central offices. Since the central office exists to serve schools and provides services for students and their families at schools, we will need to redesign how we continue to support our students.
It is very painful for us to experience this kind of milestone. But it gives us renewed motivation to move forward with all our energy to continue solving our budget issues. I ask that you keep our valued employees who are receiving layoff notices in your thoughts and in your hearts. I also ask for your patience and understanding during this difficult time.”
it’s telling that the district won’t acknowledge that the ongoing cost of this year’s employee raises, which is over $20 million, is the major reason they did this. and there is no mention of the huge reserves they currently have being used up by those raise costs. what is happening is a combo of certain funding going away, giving large raises, and them trying not to use all of their reserves. but they always just blame it on external factors like the state budget.