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Teachers, staff and parents urge board to reverse layoffs as meeting fills with public comment
Summary
Dozens of public commenters, including teachers, paraeducators and students, told the Ventura Unified board that recent staff cuts and proposed caps on employer healthcare will harm students; speakers repeatedly urged protecting classroom positions and questioned rising executive pay.
Dozens of teachers, paraeducators and community members urged the Ventura Unified School District Board of Education on Tuesday to reverse recent layoffs and staff reductions and to reconsider proposed changes that would shift healthcare costs onto employees.
At a public-comment session that the board limited to three minutes per speaker, educators described the latest round of job eliminations as a threat to classroom stability and student safety. Scott Collins, who identified himself as an adult-education instructor, told trustees his career-technical program produces high job-placement rates and pleaded with the board to “reconsider closing this program.” He said his graduates routinely fill local jobs in manufacturing and shipyards and called the program a direct workforce pipeline.
Several speakers pressed the board to examine administrative pay. A series of commentators cited public records about recent increases in superintendent and assistant superintendent compensation and asked why those increases coincided with cuts to student-facing staff. One commenter said total certificated salary spending has dropped while administrative salaries have climbed, and urged trustees to ask the administration to accept cost reductions instead of eliminating classroom positions.
Other speakers detailed how reductions would affect vulnerable campuses. Eileen Padone, a student-support-services employee, said the assistant director role helped secure over $1 million in grant funding that supports wellness counselors at eight secondary centers; she warned that eliminating the post could jeopardize attendance monitoring and compliance with state requirements.
Trustees listened but did not reverse the staffing decisions during the meeting. Trustee Calvin Peterson — who told the room “I can only speak for 20% of the decision-making” — urged speakers to “bring facts” to public comment. The board scheduled next steps in its staffing and bargaining process and directed staff to continue community outreach as budget discussions proceed.
The public-comment period set the tone for a meeting that also included presentations on capital projects and enrollment forecasts and several formal votes by the board.
