Board approves final layoff notices for 3 counselors and 23 paraeducators after hearings; community speakers urge rescinds

The San Francisco Board of Education voted to adopt the administrative law judge's decisions and authorize final layoff notices for a group of classified employees who did not sign a settlement agreement with the district and their union. The vote followed more than an hour of public comment from students, parents and employees who described the roles those staff play in schools and urged the board to rescind the notices.

Background: In February the board approved a plan that would, in the aggregate, eliminate hundreds of certificated and classified positions to address the district’s fiscal shortfall. Through attrition, a supplemental early retirement program (SERP) and a negotiated layoff agreement with the United Educators of San Francisco (UESF), the number of immediate layoff notices was cut sharply. According to district staff, 103 paraeducators and 31 counselors signed the layoff settlement; the remaining employees proceeded to hearings. After administrative hearings, the board authorized final notices for three counselors and 23 paraeducators.

At the meeting many speakers asked the board to reverse course. Paraeducators’ union leaders and school staff described positions they say are funded at the site level and critical to student attendance, family outreach and school safety. “Paraeducators have shown up for us. They are the steady hands guiding students through challenges,” Tianna Tillery, vice president of the United Educators of San Francisco, told the board during public comment.

Several speakers named individual staff members whose layoff notices the community contests. Examples included Jorge Rodriguez (referred to as “Mr. R”), a long‑time attendance and community support worker at Visitation Valley; Martie Mays, a community outreach coordinator at Longfellow; and Kenna Hazelwood, the district's LGBTQ student services coordinator. “My job is synonymous with LGBTQ student services,” Hazelwood said in public comment; she added that cutting the position now would undermine supports for vulnerable students.

The district said the board’s action reflects due process following the administrative hearings and that staff are continuing to work with the California Department of Education (CDE) fiscal advisers to verify funding and rescind notices as soon as positions are approved. Associate Superintendent Amy Bair said: “As soon as positions are approved, we will be rescinding those layoffs, and we will do any rescinding in seniority order.” She told the board that most of the counseling positions and the great majority of paraeducator positions under discussion have position numbers and identified funding.

Why it matters: Layoff decisions affect classroom supports, attendance outreach, translation and family engagement in languages other than English, and services for students with high needs. Parents, site leaders and students said eliminating these positions will destabilize school communities.

Action and next steps: The board voted by roll call to issue final notices for the employees covered by the administrative decisions. District staff said they will continue to work with state advisers to confirm funding sources and, where funded positions exist, to rescind layoff notices in seniority order; staff asked the board to adopt the decisions so that the district can complete the necessary administrative steps and then reinstate positions if funding approval is received.