Dos Pueblos High School Principal Bill Woodard interrupted classes through the intercom to announce that all “Reduction in Force” (RIF) lay-off notices given to DPHS staff have been rescinded and staff may have their contracts renewed for the 2025-2026 school year. In early March, the Santa Barbara Unified School Board approved 13 “Reduction in Force” (RIF) lay-off notices for DPHS employees; the proposed reduction in staff would have impacted six DPHS departments and caused job uncertainty for several DPHS staff members.
“It was one of the best weeks of the year, and I had a hand in hiring all of the people who were affected, and we feel really good about them,” Woodard said. “We want them to be here. So, it was hard to see them struggling with what I had been through as a young teacher myself, so I understood how they felt.”
The 2024-2025 school year marked DPHS English Teacher Vanessa Muñoz’s first year of teaching, but because of her low seniority, she received a lay-off notice in March. When the Santa Barbara Unified School District began rescinding RIF notices in late April, Muñoz said she felt “very happy” to receive a call informing her that her RIF had been rescinded.
“I love working at DP, so hearing the words that I was able to keep my position, … that just made me so emotional,” Muñoz said. “All that stress and that uncertainty that I was feeling for that month and a half suddenly went away, and that weekend, in specific, I really was taking care of myself, doing things that I was able to enjoy.”
While the SBUSD sent out more than 40 RIF notices in an effort to reduce district expenditures, the majority of those have been rescinded. Woodard said that there is “uncertainty” looking into future district wide budget cuts.
“I don’t know what the future looks like,” Woodard said. “I think we’re projected to have to cut another $4 million in the district next year overall, but that’s much less than we had to cut this year, so if things don’t get terrible in the economy, I think we should be fairly consistent after next year.”
Muñoz said she hopes that future district budget cuts prioritizes teachers and educators and that cuts will not directly impact students throughout grade levels.
“Those educators like me, … we’re here every day,” Muñoz said. “We’re here, supporting students like that is our number one job, but also make sure that our students have a safe and welcoming space.”
The SBUSD decided staff lay-off notices would be based on a seniority list, having first time teachers and newly contracted staff receive an RIF notice. Santa Barbara high school students and teachers spoke out on these topics at the board meetings.
“It’s not just a name of somebody that you’re RIF-ing, because, when you get a RIF notice, they look at the seniority list and they’re only seeing your name,” Muñoz said. “But there’s a person behind that … a person who has a life outside of school, maybe they have to support their family, or they’re supporting their partner, they’re trying to manage living in Santa Barbara.”
According to Woodard, maintaining the entirety of the DPHS current staff comes with the caveat of being unable to hire anymore employees for the next year with increasing student enrollment.
“We are projected to have 100 more students next year at DP than we do right now,” Woodard said. “And normally, if you have 100 more students, you’d get like three or four more teachers. We are having to absorb those extra 100 students with the same staff we have right now.”
While future district budgets are uncertain at this point of time, Muñoz said both teacher and student support have been impactful throughout the RIF period.
“If you did support your teachers that did get RIF notices, just know that it means a lot to us and that you continue to use your voice,” Muñoz said. “I know we had a few student speakers at the board meeting talk about the RIF notices and your voice matters, your support meant a lot to us.”
