SLO County school district plans drastic cuts to fix budget woes. Could PG&E funding help?
Editor’s note: This story mentions suicide.
Nearly 70 jobs could be eliminated in the San Luis Coastal Unified School District under projected budget cuts discussed at Tuesday night’s school board meeting.
The proposed cuts come as the district attempts to fix a projected $6 million deficit fueled by stagnant enrollment, the expiration of COVID relief funds and the depreciation of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.
Without action, the district’s reserves will dip below the state-mandated 3% level within two years, assistant superintendent of business services Ryan Pinkerton told trustees Tuesday.
While the district’s budget plan did not include the elimination of transitional kindergarten — a suggestion made by staff at a previous board meeting and later rescinded after parent outcry — it did include the termination of 22 classroom teachers, 5.5 counselors and dozens of support staff across the district.
The projected cuts would likely impact teacher and staff morale and the availability of student services as class sizes increase and mental health resources dwindle.
“Addressing the structural deficit is key because we can’t do anything unless we address that,” Superintendent Eric Prater said. “Once we address it, then we can find a way to reconstruct and rebuild in a sustainable way.”
Legally, the district must notify staff about layoffs by mid-March.
Trustees did not take action on the budget item Tuesday night. The projected cuts are still preliminary.
San Luis Coastal is not the only SLO County school district wrestling with budget woes.
The Paso Robles school board recently discussed projected layoffs of their own, and other districts are experiencing the fallout of declining enrollment and the expiration of COVID relief money.
Budget cuts could eliminate nearly 70 jobs
Because staff expenses make up 88% of the district’s budget, most of the cuts proposed Tuesday were rooted in salaries and benefits.
The proposal included the elimination of 22 teaching positions — 14 elementary school teachers, seven middle or high school teachers and one physical education teacher.
Around 5.5 counseling positions would also be cut, including 4.5 at the elementary level, leaving five counselors to be “distributed” to the elementary sites based on need and size, according to a budget document provided by the district.
The district would make telehealth counseling services available to students and families.
Other proposed cuts included district office staff, secretaries and several positions at Title I sites. Title I is a federal program that supports low-income students at public schools.
Nine student support specialists — teachers who coordinate interventions and English language services, often working with the district’s most vulnerable students — were also on the chopping block.
The bulk of the staffing cuts are likely to occur at the elementary level, Pinkerton told trustees Tuesday night — that’s because the majority of programs and staff added to support students during COVID were placed in elementary schools.
Now that the COVID funding has expired, the district doesn’t have the money to continue providing the same level of services.
Beyond staff, the district would also eliminate contracts for professional development, district equity work, student mental health supports and family advocates.
The proposed cuts amounted to around $5.8 million in savings — about $460,000 short of flipping the district’s projected deficit for the 2025-26 academic year.
During the meeting, Pinkerton told trustees that it would be “too painful” to continue slashing staff and services to try to fill the deficit. He suggested that the remainder could be plugged with reserve funds until the board ultimately revisits the budget next year.
Public urges district to develop ‘creative solutions’
Dozens of community members and district staff rallied behind counselors, teachers and support staff during Tuesday’s meeting.
Several took the opportunity to point out that the district’s proposed cuts to school counseling positions were discussed during National School Counseling Week, which spanned Feb. 3-7.
“Good evening and Happy National School Counselor Week,” said Kayla Townsend, a counselor at Bishop’s Peak Elementary School, before explaining to trustees that the proposed action of cutting the elementary counseling team nearly in half would have drastic effects on the health and well-being of both staff and students.
“If we are reduced to five counselors, there will be needs unmet, and I know this to be true, because there are already needs unmet at our sites,” she said. “It is not possible to spread ourselves thin enough, even when we sacrifice our own wellbeing to try to meet the needs of our students. This is not what is best for our students or staff.”
Ashley Hurni, a school counselor at Los Osos Middle School, also spoke to the “irreparable” harm cutting counselors could have on students.
Her school site has seen five students hospitalized for mental health crises and suicidal ideation — that’s excluding the students who’ve been placed on safety plans for self-harm without being hospitalized, Hurnu told trustees.
“For some students, a school counselor is the only person they share concerning issues with, the only person that becomes aware of neglect or abuse inside of a home, and the only person to intervene when a student is considering dying by suicide,” she added.
Members of the public encouraged the district to develop “creative solutions” to save school counselors and student services, citing the work that was done to save the transitional kindergarten program just weeks earlier.
Suggestions included using reserve funding or money from the district’s education foundation endowment.
“There’s a reason why you keep that rainy day reserve, and it’s not raining right now — it is pouring,” said Katie Bravante, a music teacher at Los Osos Middle School.
District moves to lobby PG&E for funding
By the end of Tuesday’s board discussion, trustees and district officials had landed at one possible solution rooted in the local community — lobbying PG&E for funding the district felt it is owed.
Part of the district’s budget crisis stems from the depreciation of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.
San Luis Coastal used to receive a consistent stream of unitary tax money through Diablo, but the tax structure changed when Diablo was thought to be shutting down.
As a basic aid district — a district that is funded by local property taxes rather than the Local Control Funding Formula — that tax money was vital to keep district operations running smoothly.
The district has received payouts from PG&E to offset the financial impacts of Diablo’s projected closure. But the power plant has since been authorized to continue operating.
Still, San Luis Coastal will receive its final payout in 2025, leaving a larger hole in the budget, superintendent Eric Prater told The Tribune in December.
During the meeting, trustee Brian Clausen said they should lobby PG&E for the money the district is owed as Diablo continues operations — around $10 million a year.
Clausen asked district officials to organize a meeting with PG&E and called on community members to make their voices heard.
“We educate the children of their employees. We are in a partnership with them, and they are not pulling their part of the partnership. And because of that, we are firing counselors and student support services and teachers,” Clausen said.
The district will begin making budget cut decisions on Feb. 18. Clausen wants a commitment from PG&E before then.
“If we don’t expect them to step up as a community partner, we’re letting them off the hook,” he said.
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a hotline for individuals in crisis or for those looking to help someone else. To speak with a certified listener, call 988. You can also call the Central Coast Hotline at 800-783-0607 for 24-7 assistance. To learn the warning signs of suicide, visit suicidepreventionlifeline.org
This story was originally published February 5, 2025 at 10:47 AM.
.JPG)