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Teachers, students and unions protest cuts to music, VAPA, CTE and support staff at WCCUSD meeting
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Summary
More than a hundred public commenters—teachers, students, union leaders and parents—urged the West Contra Costa Unified board to oppose proposed cuts that would remove music, ethnic studies, JROTC and many classified positions, calling for transparency and alternatives to frontline layoffs.
Hundreds of parents, teachers, students and union representatives took the podium in the West Contra Costa Unified School District's Feb. 22 meeting to urge trustees to reject proposed cuts to classroom programs and classified staff.
Speakers described programs they said keep students in school and provide pathways to college or careers. "You cannot celebrate the young, gifted, and black while simultaneously taking away their opportunities," said Tara Faye, a former district music teacher (public comment). Students from Kennedy High School and alumni repeatedly said threats to ethnic studies, leadership, journalism and Spanish-for-Spanish-speakers would damage enrollment and the school's community.
Union leaders and classified staff warned of operational risks if maintenance, grounds, campus safety and glazier positions are reduced. "Reducing our shop to one glazer would create a severe safety risk," said a glazer who described regular work with heavy glass and work at heights. Teamsters and UTR representatives asked the board to pause and negotiate alternatives, repeatedly urging the district to cut consultants and central office travel rather than frontline staff.
Arts advocates and VAPA staff argued that eliminating the district VAPA coordinator and shifting elementary music funding to site-level Prop 28 allocations risks unequal access and possible "supplanting" of Prop 28 dollars. Several commenters cited legal scrutiny in other districts over using Prop 28 to replace central funding: "Prop 28 funds are supposed to be supplemental, not supplant," said an elementary band teacher.
Students emphasized both immediate and long-term stakes: a high-school junior described how JROTC instructors taught discipline and opened scholarship opportunities, while elementary students and teachers described music and arts as drivers of attendance and reading/math gains.
Multiple speakers asked for transparency on district contracting and spending. Commenters and union leaders pointed to a cited $8,000,000 increase on consulting services and asked why the board would target frontline staff instead of administrative or contracted costs.
Ending: Many public commenters pledged continuing advocacy and asked trustees to postpone final layoffs until alternatives (contract savings or new state funding) could be vetted; trustees tasked staff and a contracts committee to return with potential offsets for key programs.
