LAUSD board to vote on layoffs in February

Next month, Los Angeles Unified School District leaders will vote on layoffs at central offices and school sites as part of a plan to save $1.4 billion over the next two years.

The district’s fiscal stabilization plan outlines three categories where layoffs are likely: central office ($150 million), unfunded positions ($60 million) and the Student Equity Needs Index, or “SENI,” ($99 million), which supports schools with higher-need students. District staff said the exact number and types of positions will be provided to the board in the coming weeks.

 “It is not a forgone conclusion that people will lose jobs,” said Superintendent Alberto Carvalho. For example, he said staff may be reassigned to vacant positions or given the opportunity to transfer to another school.

How did we get here

LAUSD is spending more money than it brings in. There are more than 40% fewer students compared to the early 2000s and the district has not closed schools or significantly reduced staff as costs have increased. LAUSD hired more staff to support students during the pandemic, but the federal relief dollars that initially funded those positions are gone.

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For the past two years, the district has relied on diminishing reserves to backfill a multi-billion-dollar deficit. Most recently, the district pulled $496 million from its reserve.

 “Every available reserve of the district is being used to either offset reductions that otherwise would've happened or to pay for cost increases that we're expecting over the coming years,” said chief financial officer Saman Bravo-Karimi.

Several still-unknown factors will shape LAUSD’s spending plan, including the outcome of stalled contract negotiations with the district’s teachers union, the final state budget and changes to federal education funding.

Weigh in on LAUSD’s planned layoffs

The Board is scheduled to vote on the layoffs at its Feb. 10 meeting and impacted staff will be notified by March 15, as required by California law.