The Los Angeles Unified Board approved layoffs affecting more than 1,000 employees, while district management also moved to terminate some workers without the due process protections offered in union jobs. The board also previewed a fiscal stability plan calli
For many Los Angeles school workers, the uncertainty started quietly—without a public announcement.
At Thursday’s Los Angeles Unified Board of Education meeting, the board approved layoffs expected to affect more than 1,000 employees. Separately. district management terminated the employment of workers without tenure or other union job protections. including some teachers. according to officials—an action that occurred without an announcement but has been confirmed.
Acting Superintendent Andres Chait addressed the people who would be affected next month when the school year ends, describing the human toll that comes with sudden job cuts.
“All of us recognize that a reduction in force creates significant uncertainty and personal hardships for employees. families and school communities. ” Chait said. “I want to be very clear that this action is not in any way a reflection of employee performance or dedication. but rather a difficult and necessary response to structural fiscal conditions.”.
The board vote was also shaped by a larger. looming story: a fiscal stability plan the board received its first look at Thursday. That plan calls for cuts totaling more than $3.6 billion over the next three years. potentially triggering staff cutbacks on a massive scale. pay cuts for remaining employees. and the closing of schools.
In that scenario, the district estimates job reductions of 6,000 or more—approaching 10% of the district’s workforce. Most of the economic pain is backloaded, with impacts starting July 1, 2027—giving district officials a year to try to head off the worst outcomes.
The board’s vote on Thursday was 5 to 2, with officials saying they were following legally required steps and timelines laid out in union contracts to keep layoffs from being challenged.
The “yes” votes were cast by President Scott Schmerelson, Nick Melvoin, Sherlett Hendy Newbill, Tanya Ortiz Franklin and Kelly Gonez. Rocio Rivas and Karla Griego voted no.
Griego said the cuts are arriving faster than she can accept.
“We’re making it a reality that our schools are going to be very much more destabilized than they have been,” Griego said. “To me, this still feels like it’s too much too soon.”
Union members and laid-off staff weren’t just counting the total number of jobs. They were focused on who would be hit—especially support workers who keep schools running day to day.
On a percentage basis, the June layoffs may fall most heavily on Local 500 of California School Employees Assn., which includes clerical workers and library aides. The union has 254 employees on the layoff list.
Ruben Alarcon, an IT support representative who addressed the board standing in front of his CSEA colleagues, questioned whether the district was treating essential staff as expendable.
“Why are the essential workers — the people who support students. teachers. school sites. technology operations. transportation. nutrition services. special education and daily campus operations — being treated as expendable?” Alarcon said. “These employees are not the cause of crisis. They are the reason our schools continue functioning despite the crisis.”.
Alarcon added, “Support staff are stretched thin,” saying, “Eliminating even more positions will only worsen conditions for students and families.”
The layoffs are also expected to land heavily on Local 99 of Service Employees International Union. which represents the largest number of nonteaching employees. typically including the district’s lowest-paid workers. Targeted positions include gardeners, bus supervisors and other transportation workers.
More than 200 computer technical support workers from Local 99 had been on the list but were expected to be restored based on recent contract settlements.
Board action on Thursday applied to 657 workers, but a district spokesperson said the hope is that number will eventually fall to about 150, based on agreements with unions and also on natural attrition and transfers of those affected to available open positions.
While the board’s vote covered some employees, it did not include workers who lack union job protections—among them employees who have worked for lengthy periods under temporary status. For that group, the district has issued “non-renewal notices.”
The non-renewal notices cover 291 teaching-credentialed workers, including 181 elementary teachers. At the middle and high level, the notices include 15 English teachers and 45 social science teachers. The district also plans to let go 51 pupil services and attendance counselors on temporary contracts.
Nonteaching layoffs under temporary status include 114 campus aides, 107 community representatives, 143 instructional aides and 336 school supervision aides.
Local 99 Executive Director Max Arias vowed to reverse the remaining layoffs of his members, saying the district violated due process rules.
Even with the cuts, district planning wasn’t limited to reductions. The new union contracts included expansions, such as additional psychiatric social workers and counselors, and modest class size reductions.
Inside the budget math, district leaders pointed to shrinking enrollment. District officials attributed the need for cuts to steadily declining enrollment. The nation’s second-largest school system, with about 390,000 students, is described as about half as large as it was in the early 2000s.
Other drivers include the expiration of COVID-relief funds, inflation surpassing state funding increases and employee contract settlements. Recent collective bargaining agreements with employee unions. the district said. include substantial raises that will add an estimated $1.5 billion in annual costs to a district budget that stood last year at $18.8 billion.
The school board also received an early look at what one board member described as an unpleasant list of outcomes. Melvoin characterized the three-year budget project with profanity for manure.
Among the projected cuts are near-total elimination of special discretionary aid to high-need schools and a separate program that provides academic and emotional support to Black students and others with similar needs. The plan also includes seven days of unpaid furloughs for school employees and requires employees to begin contributing to their monthly health insurance premiums.
The fiscal stability plan is tied to a balancing act: the district must prove it can remain solvent over each of the next three years despite uncertainties about the state budget and the economy that influences it.
If the state economy remains healthy. much but not all of the deficit would decline over time. the district said. provided the state continues current grants and general state-funded school revenues continue to increase annually. But state rules do not allow the district’s budget planners to assume a more positive outlook.
Arias dismissed the premise behind the three-year austerity plan.
“I don’t think it takes into account potential new revenues,” Arias said. “We still don’t believe that there’s such a financial crisis that merits such action.”
The final version of the fiscal stability plan is scheduled to go before the board in June.
Los Angeles Unified layoffs Andres Chait fiscal stability plan $3.6 billion cuts union layoffs CSEA Local 500 SEIU Local 99 non-renewal notices