Budget shortfalls prompt HISD layoffs

Districtwide, teachers and staff are alerted to reduction in positions, thinning of ranks

Layoffs soon will be happening at Houston ISD, teachers and staff learned Friday.

The district sent out notifications to all employees — teachers included — that layoffs will begin shortly, according to HISD media relations specialist Millie Quintanilla. The district did not make the exact number of layoffs available to the Houston Chronicle.

The layoffs announcement comes after HISD’s ongoing budget issues came to a head with a $115 million budget shortfall.

In a statement, the district said it will host several workshops to help employees career marketing, resume writing and interview tips. Other staffers affected could be shifted into new roles within HISD, the district said.

The district is still unsure which staff members will be laid off.

HISD trustees approved a procedural “reduction in force” in March that allows them to start the process of layoffs. Some employees have already learned that their jobs have been eliminated and others will learn in coming days.

District leaders projected significant across-the-board cuts, although they are trying to keep any campus-level staff and program reductions at a minimum. Earlier projections under a $208 million shortfall showed significant layoffs to custodial, maintenance, police and administrative employees.

District leaders reduced the projected deficit to $115 million in February after determining HISD likely will benefit from a lawsuit that allows it to keep about $51 million, rather than sending that money back to the state, and getting assurances that the district’s “recapture” bill will be reduced due to Hurricane Harvey.

The level of teacher cuts likely will depend on the number of teachers who leave before the 2018-19 school year. About 2,000 of the district’s 11,500 teachers do not return to the district each year, and HISD leaders want to trim the teaching ranks through attrition as much as possible.