Acton-Agua Dulce District cuts 12
Positions eliminated as budget deficit leads to layoffs
ACTON — Acton-Agua Dulce Unified School District’s Board of Education approved layoffs for 12 employees Thursday night, including certificated and classified employees, due to budget constraints.
The adopted 2020-21 budget included a $270,998 budget surplus. That surplus turned to an estimated deficit of $524,229 at the first interim report in December. The deficit is related to the fact that the District can no longer charge oversight fees to the 12 charter schools it authorizes.
“I absolutely value our employees and this was a very difficult undertaking to balance our budget,” Superintendent Larry King said at the meeting. “The one thing I won’t let happen is let this district go into a negative certification.”
King added the District is still in deficit-spending pattern. Further budget reductions could be required next fiscal year.
The certificated layoffs included seven full-time employees and one half-time employee, including five teachers. The reduction in force will leave the District with one school counselor for all three schools. The position of director of special education also was eliminated.
The reduction in force for classified employees included six positions, two of which are vacant. The positions included a high school
campus security safety specialist, and library and physical educational aides.
“Our three school sites currently service over 900 students,” said Nicole Salsedo, the school counselor at Vasquez High School. “By eliminating two of the three counseling positions in our District, the counselor-to-student ratio will be above 900-to-one, which is double the national average.”
Salsedo detailed the many ways the counseling department serves students, including academic scheduling, individual and group counseling, mental health referrals and suicide risk assessment.
“One counselor cannot do this alone,” Salsedo said.
Salsedo added programs at each school will be impacted or go away altogether.
“Our counselors and our psychologist are the only personnel within the District who specialize in mental health,” Salsedo said.
CSEA President Brianna Taksony urged the Board to consider other options to save money.
“Every single position being cut is someone who has a direct relationship with our students,” Taksony said. “I cannot imagine a world in which choosing to cut these positions sounded like a good idea, but I assure you, as someone who in literally on the front lines with our students, it is not.”
Taksony suggested District administrators explore restructuring the district office administrative staff.
“The District knew they would be laying off several employees but still went ahead with hiring a new assistant superintendent of Business Services
and a full-time maintenance position.” Taksony said.
She added: “We are laying off four classified people while hiring a new classified person to fill a position our very own people are qualified for, holding interviews the very day that layoff notifications were being made.” One parent expressed frustration. “I’m concerned that they’re making the wrong cuts,” parent Danielle Henry, who has two children in the District, said Friday.
Henry expressed concern about the loss of two counselors and how it could impact children. Since the pandemic began last year, Henry said counseling hasn’t been offered to students who need it.
King acknowledged the difficulty of the reduction in force.
“It’s not as straightforward as it would appear from the outside,” King said. “It’s not just business; I understand that. I understand it is personal, particularly to those being laid off.”
King added the District submitted a fiscal solvency plan to Los Angeles County to demonstrate how it will maintain a positive reserve in its threeyear projection.
“The individuals are highly valued and it is with a heavy heart that I bring this forward to you,” King said of the reduction in force resolutions.
Trustee Michael Fox said when he joined the Board in 2013, the District was in a negative certification. It had to lay off employees then to remain solvent.
“Since then, our enrollment has continued to decline,” Fox said.
The District was able to weather the decline in enrollment eight years ago by authoring multiple charter schools. That brought in more revenue the District put into programs for students. The District has an estimated $2.9 million in lost charter revenue since it can no longer charge oversight fees.
“What we’re seeing here is a tough adjustment to getting in line with normal and typical funding in a district that’s just not generating that many children; a District with declining enrollment,” Fox said, adding the District has to live within its budget.
Trustee Ken Pfalzgraf cautioned the District about relying on charter revenue before he joined the Board in 2016.
Board Clerk Chad Wadsworth, who was elected in November, was the lone trustee who voted against the reduction in force resolutions.
“I really hope that our district has exhausted any and all opportunities with the possibility of keeping these people,” Wadsworth said, adding he was not convinced the District exhausted all opportunities to save money.
Board Vice President Tim Jorgensen also acknowledged the Board faced a difficult decision.
“We have to deal with what’s being dealt to us; it’s very difficult and very challenging,” Jorgensen said.
Board President Kelly Jensen said the Board had to make some hard decisions in trying to make the best of its current budget.
“It’s not an easy decision to make; we care deeply for all of our staff and our teachers. We want the best for our students,” Jensen said, adding they will continue to do the best they can for students, the community and employees.