RICHMOND — Faced with strained finances, the West Contra Costa Unified School District is poised to make millions more in budget cuts ahead of the 2025-26 school year with more adjustments projected in the future.
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School board trustees were presented with a sobering picture of the district’s future finances during a Jan. 8 meeting. About $7 million in budget reductions are necessary to receive a positive budget certification for the 2025-26 school year.
Ahead of the 2024-25 school year, about $19 million in budget cuts were made as part of a fiscal solvency plan. As a result, the district received a positive budget certification, but it heavily relied on $37 million in reserve funds.
That reserve fund could be depleted in the next three years, said Interim Superintendent Kim Moses, who called the proposed reductions necessary to retain local control over the district’s budget. If cuts aren’t made, Moses said budget decisions would transfer to the Contra Costa County Office of Education.
“I want to be very clear that we understand this is not something that we take lightly,” Moses said. “We understand that these reductions will directly affect individuals who have dedicated their careers to serving our students. Please remember that these recs are not made lightly and are driven only to align our expenditures with our revenues and address the district’s structural deficit.”
To meet the $7 million budget reduction goal, the district plans to cut staffing expenses by about $6.6 million and programming by about $584,000.
Of the roughly 43 positions on the chopping block, 26 would be represented by the teachers union, three from the Administrators Association, three from unrepresented management, nine from the School Supervisors Association and two Teamsters positions.
Another 47 positions could be cut in the 2026-27 school year, saving the district about $6.4 million.
Moses routinely clarified during the meeting that no programs were being cut. Instead, staffing for some programs are being reduced to better align with the limited number of students they serve while other programs are going to be funded with restricted funds rather than out of the general fund.
While staffing reductions and budget alignments are necessary to keep the district on good fiscal footing, the West Contra Costa Unified School District is also facing complaints from teachers and parents, including legal filings, asserting staffing shortages are violating students’ rights.
Parents, students and staff implored district leadership during the meeting to not make staffing and programming cuts and to allow beloved teachers to continue heading special projects rather than being reassigned to the classroom.
Acknowledging the public’s concerns about staffing, Trustee Demetrio Gonzalez Hoy said correcting the district’s finances by seeking out funding opportunities rather than making cuts needs to be a board priority.
To do so, Trustee Jamela Smith-Folds said the district will need to be united in its approach toward stopping the financial bleeding and decision makers need to lobby and advocate for the district’s financial wellbeing.
“Everyone has to be 10 toes in,” Smith-Folds said. “Everyone has to have the understanding that there is no enemy here. We all have to work together to keep local control over our budget and we all have to work together to keep the door open on these schools.”
In the meantime, Moses said increasing daily attendance could help prevent some cuts in the future. The district’s current Average Daily Attendance rate is 92.2%. An increase to 95% would raise an additional $7.7 million annually.
Increasing enrollment across the district would also improve financial projections. Enrollment has been on the decline for years with about 2,974 fewer students attending West Contra Costa Unified School District campuses in the 2024-25 school year than in the 2019-20 school year. Current estimates indicate the district could lose an additional 500 students by the 2026-27 school year.
“Our school budgets have to be planned based on what we know to be true in the moment,” Moses said. “However, we also know that if we are successful in … increasing our average daily rate of attendance for our students, that will equate to increased revenue for our district … and if we can increase the revenue for our district, then we will rescind the reductions we’re approving.”
