Amid an expected $44 million budget deficit largely attributed to the end of federal COVID relief funds, the Fort Worth school board in February approved the elimination of 133 jobs; 129 of them had been funded by pandemic aid.
The Texas district is one of many that has come face to face with a stark reality: Schools won鈥檛 have enough money next year for everything they鈥檙e doing this year, and there will be workforce reductions.
Like district leaders in most other places eyeing budget cuts, Superintendent Angelica Ramsey in Fort Worth said cutting jobs is the last option.
鈥淲e鈥檙e finding efficiencies throughout the school district. We鈥檙e looking at budgets. We鈥檙e looking at contracts. We鈥檙e looking at every place we can, so that employees are the last to be impacted,鈥� Ramsey said, according to the .
In Howard County, Md., district leaders are considering eliminating 348 positions in an attempt to offset a $103 million budget shortfall expected for the 2024-25 school year. The total budget is expected to be around $1.1 billion.
Since 鈥渁 significant portion of our budget is staff, we cannot address the structural financial challenges without impacting staff,鈥� , adding that he expects a 13.6 percent increase in employee health insurance costs, the news website Patch reported.
The story is similar in districts from , to , to
For the last four years, ESSER funds have buoyed budgets and protected districts from the fiscal impacts of declining student enrollment, rising costs of employee salaries and benefits, and widespread inflation.
Even as ESSER funds dry up, some states are also scaling back their own K-12 education investments. But academic recovery and student mental health needs continue to pose major challenges鈥攁nd costs.
For most districts that have announced or are considering layoffs, the budget crunch isn鈥檛 coming as a surprise. School finance experts have warned ever since Congress approved pandemic relief aid in 2020 and 2021 that districts could face a funding cliff if they didn鈥檛 prepare for the end of the grant period.
In particular, finance experts advised districts against using the majority of funds for recurring expenses like staff salaries. Some districts forged ahead anyway, either planning to cut staff once ESSER funds ran out, or hoping to find alternative funding sources to keep valuable staff on the payroll past 2024.
鈥淚n many cases, the most strategic and responsible investments were investing in staff,鈥� said Joe Trawick-Smith, a partner at the nonprofit Education Resource Strategies, which provides consulting services to districts. 鈥淚t was a response to the needs of kids at that time, and now we鈥檙e just in a different place in terms of funding to support those investments more long-term.鈥�
Some districts, like the Mansfield schools in Texas, have managed to craft budgets for next school year that won鈥檛 cost anyone their job. But even there, stability may not last, said Michele Trongaard, the district鈥檚 associate superintendent for business and finance.
鈥淲e鈥檙e right on the cusp鈥� of needing to lay people off, Trongaard said. 鈥淒ecisions don鈥檛 have to be made today, but we do need to have conversations.鈥�
Districts should develop a clear path forward
The number of districts forced to consider staffing cuts is likely to grow in the coming months.
It鈥檚 a difficult, albeit sometimes necessary, decision that can create tension and unease in communities, so it鈥檚 important district leaders approach the situation with empathy and intention.
Most struggling districts鈥� budgets didn鈥檛 get to a difficult point due to mismanagement or irresponsible decisionmaking, Trawick-Smith said. Rather, districts in recent years were responding to a variety of crises and challenges as they navigated pandemic recovery, he said.
District leaders should, as much as possible, articulate 鈥渨hat they鈥檙e trying to provide to their community, not what they鈥檙e having to take away,鈥� Trawick-Smith said.
That means districts need to have clear goals for their students and schools prior to deciding what positions to eliminate. Then, they can make staffing decisions around which programs are most important to keep鈥攊f a district wants to prioritize high-dosage tutoring, for example.
鈥淒istricts need to be clear about what their vision is for the future, along with clearly articulating what the challenges are they need to overcome to get there,鈥� Trawick-Smith said. 鈥淲e have to make sure constituents understand the direction we鈥檙e headed as a system, and that鈥檚 why we have to make these tough choices now.鈥�
District leaders should try to avoid pressures to 鈥渄o a little bit of everything鈥� and try to preserve all existing programs and services by 鈥渕aking incremental cuts across the board,鈥� he added.
鈥淲e understand why that pressure exists, but what that ultimately ends up doing is just leading schools to a point where they are left to do all of the same things but with a lot less resources, and reduces the likelihood we鈥檙e actually going to move the needle on student outcomes,鈥� he said.
Layoffs come at a cost
The people losing their jobs aren鈥檛 the only ones affected by layoffs.
Along with fewer professionals in buildings and staffing important programs, eliminating positions often results in tension with local staff unions, anxiety among those whose jobs were spared, and community concerns.
鈥淭hese are real adults with real relationships with students and families, so it鈥檚 painful,鈥� Trawick-Smith said. 鈥淩educing positions often means removing people that have been a part of a school community, and even when that is the right choice going forward, it doesn鈥檛 change the fact that it鈥檚 really hard for everyone involved.鈥�
Following community pushback in December, the Westland, Mich., school board unanimously rejected a plan to lay off nearly 40 employees.
Prior to that decision, community members flocked to a public meeting and, during what local media described as told administrators and school board members that the cuts would come at a cost to students鈥� learning. Union leaders said the move would be an unfair labor practice.
Even after the school board backed off the layoff proposal, community members expressed a hope for in the future to rebuild trust.
Trawick-Smith said it鈥檚 important that district leaders begin communicating about budget realities early, and not just wait to announce a shortfall when unveiling the annual budget proposal.
That could include hosting informal conversations beginning in the fall with staff and community members about anticipated challenges鈥攚hether changes in enrollment or revenue sources, Trawick-Smith said.
The more district leaders can explain about budget problems鈥� root causes, the more the community will understand when it鈥檚 time to make difficult decisions around staffing reductions or program changes, he said.
And as districts confront the immediate pressure to balance this year鈥檚 budget, Trawick-Smith said it鈥檚 important to keep looking ahead.
Achieving financial stability 鈥渋s not going to be a one-year process,鈥� he said, so it鈥檚 important to set clear goals and create a plan to align resources accordingly.
鈥淲e have to also be thinking about how to get out in front of some of these issues and make decisions that are going to set districts up for longer-term success,鈥� he said, 鈥渞ather than just playing catch-up.鈥�
The Des Moines schools in Iowa will eliminate roughly 10 teaching positions, mostly in high schools, and 22 to 25 central office positions after this school year.
Part of the motivation behind cutting central office positions is to signal to community members and unions that the district is keeping the classroom as its top priority.
Shashank Aurora, the district鈥檚 chief financial officer, typically presents the prospect of layoffs to departments in these terms: If you can save the same number of dollars without cutting a job, do that.
鈥淭he idea is to reduce costs, not to reduce headcount,鈥� Aurora said.
His department, for instance, recently collaborated with the district鈥檚 health insurance provider to work on reducing extraneous fees. That saved almost $1 million, and 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have to eliminate any positions in my department,鈥� he said.
Layoffs aren鈥檛 always inevitable
Lawmakers in Texas didn鈥檛 allocate any additional funding to school districts during the most recent legislative session. An influx of English learners to the state鈥檚 schools hasn鈥檛 prompted the state to increase investment in services for those students. And the state in recent years has required districts to invest in new expenses like school security without supplying funds.
As a result, many districts are pondering staffing cuts. But that鈥檚 not the only approach to closing budget gaps, said Trongaard from the Mansfield district.
Some districts are investing in marketing to convince families who are new to the area or previously opted out of the school system that they should enroll, allowing schools to draw additional state funding. Some are closing school buildings and consolidating operations without meaningfully shrinking the teaching staff.
Trongaard鈥檚 district will likely avoid layoffs this year. That鈥檚 in part because of creative alternatives she鈥檚 employed to trim costs.
For instance, district-employed police officers were required to drive their district vehicles to a central location at the end of each workday, and then drive their own car home.
鈥淚t added in a lot of overtime, so we allowed them to take [the cruisers] straight home,鈥� Trongaard said. 鈥淣ow the fuel budget went up, but not as much as the overtime [decreased].鈥�
The district also allows community groups to host meetings in the performing arts center at one of its schools. But that means hiring a custodial contractor to maintain that building during off hours. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to get rid of that,鈥� she said.
Technology repairs represent another budget item that鈥檚 ballooned in recent years, as the number of district-owned devices increased with the onset of the COVID pandemic. Instead of paying for expensive technology insurance for the district鈥檚 device stockpile, Mansfield now employs a handful of interns who lead repair efforts.
鈥淪ome districts are facing deficits right away, some are feeling OK, but nobody鈥檚 rich,鈥� Trongaard said.
