Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Reaction topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Union leaders, parents and students urge Martinez Unified to preserve counselors, bilingual and college‑career supports
Summary
Union representatives, parents and dozens of students told the board that restoring MTSS counselors, bilingual paraeducators and the college and career specialist should be district priorities; union speakers also asked for clearer accounting of ~$2M in unassigned/unappropriated funds and noted livestream/Brown Act concerns.
Speakers at the Feb. 3 Martinez Unified School District special meeting urged the board to slow or rethink proposed staffing reductions and to provide clearer public accounting for unassigned funds.
Stephanie Wentz, representing CSEA, told the board she believed the meeting was "in violation of the Brown Act as it was agendized to be live streamed, and it is not," a procedural complaint echoed in several public comments about transparency and access.
Mary Rittenhouse, speaking on behalf of the Martinez Education Association, said parents and staff still lack clear answers about roughly $2,000,000 in unassigned or unappropriated budget dollars. "Before the board moves forward with cuts that directly impact people, we believe the community deserves a clear and public explanation of how those funds are being considered and why they cannot be used to mitigate the proposed reductions," Rittenhouse said.
Parents and students described specific programs they said would be damaged by reductions: Janice Collins, a college and career specialist, and multiple students stressed the role of that position in college application support and in creating pathways to community college and careers. "This guidance helps stir…the school is about more than academics, it's about helping students understand that they have a place in this world," one parent said.
Students delivering prepared remarks said cuts to ELPAC/EL supports and bilingual paraeducator positions would reduce English learners’ ability to participate and could lower overall school performance. Sebastian (last name not provided) asked the board to "keep the ELPAC services and support programs" for students whose first language is not English.
Union and community speakers also pressed district leaders on counting expiring grants as real budget savings. Rittenhouse said several items listed as reductions are simply expiring contracts or grants (for example, a PBIS contract and an anti‑bias grant), not active cuts that reduce ongoing obligations.
Board members signaled sympathy for several public priorities and asked staff to return next week with concrete options that show costs and multi‑year effects of restoring positions, and with more detailed line‑item clarity on restricted and unrestricted balances.
No formal votes on the proposed reductions occurred at the Feb. 3 meeting.
