As SF Unified School District evaluates number of layoffs needed, pre-K enrollment increases

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- This week in San Francisco the school board will vote on approval to send out hundreds of preliminary layoff notices.

This comes as the San Francisco Unified School District is dealing with a $113 million budget deficit.

"I think anytime you're cutting services and staff to kids, it's awful all around," said Meredith Dodson.

Dodson heads the San Francisco Parent Coalition and has two kids of her own. She's referring to the layoffs that could be coming to the SFUSD.

Late Friday, the district announced that this week the school board will vote on whether to send out 837 preliminary layoff notices to staff members, including teachers and counselors, who may be let go.

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"We were expecting something severe and this is really severe. It's like 10% of our staff they're talking about cutting," Dodson said.

Former SFUSD Superintendent Matt Wayne had a plan that would save money by closing schools. The new superintendent immediately stopped that plan the day Wayne left in October.

"I know for a fact that we are looking at central office, and expenses, and programs, and people we have there, in addition to our programs in our schools. Ultimately, at the end of the day, the $113 million will impact a lot of our programing," said School Board President Phil Kim.

But even if the layoff notices go out, final decisions about layoffs aren't made until May. Kim says there has already been interest in early retirement plans among educators, and the superintendent just informed him of good news this past weekend.

"In regards to enrollment, we're seeing an upward trend in our early pre-K enrollment, and I believe we just received about 150 new kinder applications above from last year," Kim said.

RELATED: SF Unified says layoffs 'likely' in the future to tackle $113M budget deficit

That's all additional funding to be factored in when a decision is being made about the number of layoffs needed.

"I hope they are using this time to think really carefully about tying every single dollar as close to the student as possible, and make sure we're paying for the things that will boost our kids learning experience at the district," Dodson said.

On Tuesday, the board will vote only on whether to issue the preliminary layoff notices.

SFUSD issued this statement on Friday:

The San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) is taking a multi-pronged strategy to balance its budget and minimize the impacts of budget reductions on students and staff. Currently, 80% of the district's $1.3 billion budget is spent on staffing. To close the $113 million deficit for the 2025-26 school year, SFUSD Superintendent Dr. Maria Su has announced that it will be necessary to reduce the district's existing workforce in central office and across schools.

All California school districts are required by state law to issue preliminary layoff notices by March 15 of each year to inform employees who may be released for the following school year. To that end, the San Francisco Board of Education will vote at its Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025 meeting to authorize SFUSD to issue preliminary layoff notices for 395 certificated positions and 164 classified positions. This step follows approval from the Board on Feb. 11 to release temporary one-year teaching positions that will not renew past June 2025, release employees whose probation is ending, and provide preliminary notices to 149 certificated administrators that they may be released or reassigned for the 2025-2026 school year. SFUSD will also request approval to issue preliminary layoff notices to 43 central office classified administrators and 86 classified civil services (including both represented and unrepresented employees) in the upcoming months.

The Board is not taking action on Tuesday on which individual employees will receive a preliminary notice. Prior to delivering notices, SFUSD will process all separations from the district including resignations, retirements, and leaves. SFUSD will then use a seniority list and other tiebreaker methods to determine which employees will receive a preliminary notice. These notices are preliminary, and final notices are not issued until May.

If approved by the Board, SFUSD will work to reconcile the positions with several factors such as the Supplemental Employee Retirement Plan (SERP) outcome; general attrition including resignations; seniority tiebreakers; and other criteria to determine which employees will receive a preliminary notice by March 15.

SFUSD may rescind preliminary layoff notices prior to the state's May 15 deadline when final layoff notices must be issued to certificated and classified employees. In the upcoming weeks SFUSD will receive a more accurate financial forecast through its Second Interim Budget Report. In an abundance of caution, the district is issuing a greater number of preliminary layoff notices than it expects final notices.

"I recognize the stress and uncertainty that this process has on our employees," Superintendent Dr. Maria Su said. "We care deeply about our staff, who show up every day in service of our students and families. When all is said and done, this affects people's lives and I do not take that lightly. At the same time, it is my responsibility to make these difficult decisions to address our structural deficit and achieve fiscal solvency. We will center these decisions on our students, and ultimately, stabilizing our district will provide predictability for staff so that our students can learn and thrive."

"The Board of Education and district leadership will continue to work together as a strong governance team to regain local control of our budget," Board of Education President Phil Kim said. "The utmost level of care and diligence is at the forefront of this work. Our staff, students, and families deserve clarity, transparency, and honesty as we make the critical, but necessary decisions in front of us."

To minimize the number of employees impacted, SFUSD has taken steps to implement budget-balancing strategies including:

Implementing a Supplemental Employee Retirement Plan (SERP) to acknowledge the contributions of eligible employees seeking retirement.

Reducing the district's reliance on contracted services, such as nursing services to redirect those resources to district staff.

Maximizing restricted funds to resource as many positions as possible.

California Education Code deadlines that school districts must follow:

March 15 - issue preliminary layoff notices to certificated employees

March 17 - submit second interim budget report (SFUSD will present its second interim budget report at the March 11, 2025 Board of Education regular meeting)

May 15 - issue final layoff notices to certificated and classified employees