Parents and TK teachers warn Sac City Unified it may start year out of compliance with TK staffing law

Transitional‑kindergarten teachers and instructional aides told the Sacramento City Unified School District board they expect some TK classrooms to begin the year out of compliance with California's 10:1 student‑to‑adult ratio because dozens of TK aide positions are still vacant.

"As of Tuesday evening, I was able to find 12 TKA positions still needing to be filled across the district on EdJoin," said Dawn Orozco, a TK teacher at Tahoe Elementary, noting some postings do not close until Aug. 13 — two days after school starts on Aug. 11. Orozco and other speakers said hiring delays, internal posting procedures and the earlier conversion of positions to reduced hours contributed to the shortages and that substitutes are not an adequate long‑term fix.

Brie Garcia, a TK instructional aide, told the board she has repeatedly warned the district about the risk of starting the year short‑staffed and said more than 20 TK vacancies were listed that evening. Ellie Graves, another TK teacher, said delays in posting internal vacancies have slowed hiring and that the district could face fines if classrooms remain out of ratio for days or weeks.

Board members and staff discussed immediate steps, including outreach to HR and efforts to prioritize hiring and substitute assignments while longer‑term recruitment and contract negotiations continue. No formal board vote or directive was recorded that night to change hiring authority; speakers urged the board to provide a clear plan to ensure compliance before or immediately after the first day of school.