The Santa Barbara County Board of Education approved the removal of more than 40 certificated full-time equivalent Santa Barbara Unified District employees in consolidation to reduce district expenditures on March 11. The Reduction in Force would start to take effect in the 2025-26 school year. All SBUSD staff who are posted to be laid off will be notified before March 15, while all finalized layoff notices will be out before May 15.
The reduction would impact Dos Pueblos High School across six different departments, with over 13 DPHS employees receiving a notification of the RIF.
SBCBE said the “significant reason” for the staff reduction was a result of the expiration of federal and state government COVID-19 relief funds that aided school districts throughout the pandemic. The relief funds were initially established in 2021, and, at the time, SBUSD invested in mental health services, COVID-19 safety supplies, and the increase in staff members.
SBUSD recognized that, once the relief funds had expired, the newly established positions would either have to transition into general funds and be incorporated in the Local Control and Accountability Plan or be discontinued.
On Feb. 25, the SBCBE met and approved the certificated seniority list. During this meeting, the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, Dr. John Becchio, said the seniority list would act as a determination system of selected staff “in the event of a Reduction in Force.”
Board member Dr. Sunita Bella said the “highest priority” is recognizing the goals of the district’s budget reduction.
“We want to move the needle forward for education for students in the Santa Barbara district … there are very specific actions that need to happen to make this process successful, so we can have a meeting on April 19, and we can set goals,” Bella said. “Looking at the budget and seeing how the budget serves those goals, having conversations with the community so that they understand what we’ve set as goals.”
The SBCBE said that the reduction in faculty members could cause a reduction in student course offerings. However, at this point in time, there is no confirmation of this.
“I want to remind everyone that these recommendations were not made lightly and were completed after an objective, thorough process, including several rounds of problem solving with all leaders in the district,” said Superintendent Dr. Hildo Maldonado. “Additionally, we had sent a budget survey for the first time to serve valuable feedback from our community. This feedback was incorporated and considered in the difficult recommendation we are presenting to the board.”
