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Students, staff and parents urge Ventura Unified to reverse classified layoffs and save Homestead program
Summary
Dozens of students, classified employees and parents told the Ventura Unified School District board that cuts to paraprofessionals, custodians and librarians will harm student safety and programs such as Homestead; trustees agreed to add a follow-up conference item to re-examine the reductions.
Dozens of students, classified employees and parents pleaded with the Ventura Unified School District Board of Trustees during public comment, urging trustees to rescind or rethink recent cuts that would eliminate or reduce paraprofessionals, custodians, librarians and other site staff.
"Why are we cutting from the bottom up?" asked Maisy Hatler, a senior at Ventura High School, describing the consequences of proposed layoffs for paraeducators and maintenance staff who support daily school operations. Student speakers said the cuts would remove essential supports at sites and would, they said, undermine safety, translation services and the functioning of small programs.
Other speakers described site-level impacts in concrete terms. Colleen Sergeant, a library staff member at Portola Elementary, said the library is "the heart of our school" and warned that reductions would remove a daily connection that helps children learn to read and develop curiosity. Brian Bard, a district carpenter, said facilities work orders had ballooned in recent years and that the loss of skilled tradespeople would leave campuses with long delays and safety risks.
Several students and parents urged the board to preserve Homestead, an independent-study K-8 program. Speakers said Homestead would be cut from three teachers to one under current plans, which they described as an effective end for the small program: "If Homestead is dragged down to one teacher it is certain death for the program," one student said.
Union leaders and ESP representatives told trustees the process felt rushed and called for more stakeholder input. Carol Peak, president of the ESP Association, asked the board to return a previously proposed ESP resolution to the agenda for further discussion and said many affected employees have decades of service.
Trustees acknowledged public testimony and signaled they would take further action. After public comment Trustee Danenberg proposed adding a conference item to a future board meeting so the trustees could take a deeper look at site-level impacts and job functions; the board indicated consensus to bring that item forward.
The board did not reverse any approved reductions at the meeting. Trustees repeatedly urged patience with the legally mandated timelines and funding constraints staff cited, and asked district staff to provide more detail about which positions are funded by one-time sources such as parcel tax and Prop 28 and which are ongoing.
What happens next: trustees directed staff to assemble more granular information on affected positions and site impacts and scheduled a conference-item discussion to revisit classified reductions and possible mitigation steps.
