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Labor unions, parents and students press LAUSD board to protect frontline staff and shift funding from police
Summary
Labor leaders, parents and dozens of students told the LAUSD board to preserve psychiatric social workers, BSAP, campus aides and other frontline positions — and to redirect district dollars away from school policing toward community‑based safety and student support.
Dozens of labor leaders, parents and students used the Feb. 17 Los Angeles Unified School District board meeting to urge the board to protect classified staff and student supports from proposed cuts and to reconsider spending on school police.
Leaders from SEIU, UTLA and Teamsters Local 2010 described the human consequences of proposed reductions. "We are tired of seeing our peers go homeless," a SEIU representative said, arguing the district has options and calling for transparency on contracts and revenue. UTLA President Cecily Myer Cruz said martializing a public narrative that pits workers against fiscal health is counterproductive: "This framing is not an honest engagement around budget priorities," she said.
Students staged or described recent walkouts and urged the board to fund Dream Centers, psychiatric social workers and the Black Student Achievement Plan (BSAP) rather than police presence on campuses. A sequence of student speakers said school safety requires counselors and culturally responsive programs, not law enforcement, and linked recent ICE activity to lower attendance and heightened family fear.
Parents and educators testified about the cascading effects of cutting parents' education support, translators, IT customer support and student/family navigators. Multiple speakers warned that even central‑office reductions will affect school services and urged the board to publish a contract review and a district equity impact analysis prior to further action. Student and community speakers demanded immediate steps to expand family and Dream Center supports and to limit any use of district funds for policing.
Board members asked staff for more detail about the predicted operational impacts of specific classification reductions (for example, IT ticket response time and payroll processing capacity) and for public release of contract spending and the equity analysis. Staff said they had already reduced non‑labor spending from 2020–22 peak levels and pledged to post FAQs, placements guidance and updates on rescissions as the RIF process proceeds.
The public comment period reflected intense community engagement on both sides of the budget choices: unions and parents asked the district to prioritize staff and services, while staff and several board members stressed legally required timelines and the need to balance multiple fiscal constraints.
