Sonoma Valley school district eliminates 22 jobs for 2024-25

Positions of seven current certificated and five classified employees will be among the 22 jobs eliminated in Sonoma Valley Unified School District beginning in 2024-25, although several jobs initially considered for removal have been saved due to recently announced retirements and resignations.

The district’s board of trustees unanimously approved the cutbacks at its meeting on Thursday, May 9, after presentations by Kristen Ugrin, the director of human resources. They amount to the equivalent of 4.6 certificated and 9.75 classified positions (including nine currently vacant classified jobs), less than the totals originally approved by the board.

An additional two certificated employees (cumulatively, 2.0 full-time employees) and five classified employees (cumulatively, 2.5 full-time employees) will either not be reemployed, or their work year or workdays will be reduced in the 2024-25 academic year.

“While it’s always difficult to release dedicated and hardworking employees, we must be prudent with our limited budget,” said Troy Knox, president of the Sonoma Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees.

Sonoma Valley Unified School District will save an estimated $1.1 million from the certificated employee cutbacks and $337,000 from the classified staff reductions.

Trustee Anne Ching said that no one feels good about the layoffs.

“It was a heart-wrenching decision for me because there are real people behind these positions,” she said. “I know many of the staff personally. However, the district’s fiscal situation had deteriorated to a point where we had no choice. Without immediate course correction, our district would face insolvency because it would not be able to meet its ongoing liabilities over the next three years.”

The Sonoma County Office of Education warned the district that fiscal insolvency would force it into receivership, and the state of California would make indiscriminate cuts to achieve a balanced budget without concern for student needs, strategic priorities and district goals, among other things.

“State receivership is not a viable or responsible option,” Ching said.

Knox said it is too early to tell if this will help to ensure that the 2024-25 budget, which will be presented to the board at its June 6 meeting, will be balanced.

Trustee John Kelly contends that the need for the cuts reflects mismanagement by the board.

“The decisions last night, while difficult, are a critical step to achieving a balanced budget for the next fiscal year,” he said. “The necessity for these cuts and the urgency of realignment are highlighted by ongoing inefficiencies within the board itself. Eleven-hour meetings that often fail to address nearly half the agenda, combined with a six-month delay in delivering the realignment reports, illustrate a continuing pattern of mismanagement.

“These issues have impeded the district’s ability to implement necessary changes swiftly and effectively. There is an urgent need for a comprehensive overhaul to rectify these issues and to focus on improving student performance, which is a critical concern for the community.”

At the school board meeting on Feb. 8, they voted unanimously to eliminate 24 certificated positions — including seven full-time secondary school teachers and six full-time elementary school teachers — as well as 12 classified positions in the 2024-25 school year.

The decision was reached after an extensive discussion among board members and concerns expressed by 54 people, including district teachers, staff members, students, parents and other community members.

Many of them complained that the school district community did not have sufficient input when determining the cutbacks.

The school district was required to notify the certificated and classified employees by March 15 that their positions could be eliminated, which alarmed many of them.

“Districts will often over-notice employees because there is still work being done to determine staffing levels based on budget and projected enrollment for the following school year,” Knox said. “As the budget picture becomes clearer in the spring, districts have the ability to rescind some or all of the initial March 15 notices.”

Since the board meeting on Feb. 8, additional certificated and classified employees have retired or resigned, and trustees have decided to retain some jobs originally on the cut lists.

“The board felt it was necessary to reverse some of the cuts in order to save the high school college counselor, the part-time high school band teacher, school librarians and elementary intervention teachers,” Ching said. “As a result, there is more work to do on the fiscal front.”

During the public comment period at the meeting on May 9, concerns were expressed over the elimination of some positions, including the part-time farm coordinator at Sonoma Valley High School.

“Once our budget outlook improves, I could envision this particular position being reinstated, given the popular course offerings affiliated with it,” Knox said.

Reach the reporter, Dan Johnson, at daniel.johnson@sonomanews.com.