SLO County school district won’t cut counselors amid budget deficit — but other jobs will go away
A handful of counselors in the San Luis Coastal Unified School District will get to keep their jobs next year, school board trustees decided Tuesday, following emotional pleas from parents, staff and community members.
The 5.5 counseling positions were placed on the chopping block as part of the district’s recommended plan to remedy a $6 million dollar structural budget deficit that is set to grow in the coming years without action.
The board did vote to cut more than 20 classified employee positions Tuesday night.
The cuts come in addition to over 20 teaching positions set to be eliminated — a decision that did not require a board vote because the teachers are on temporary contracts, assistant superintendent of business services Ryan Pinkerton told The Tribune on Wednesday morning.
The district has deliberated solutions to the deficit over the past two months — and the community has made its voice heard. Tuesday night was no different.
In January, parents and staff showed up in droves to oppose a previous recommendation to close the district’s transitional kindergarten program, ultimately resulting in the recommendation being taken off the table.
And community members — alongside district administrators and trustees — have lobbied PG&E and state lawmakers for help in recent weeks.
The district’s deficit is partially fueled by a reduction in local tax revenue due to the depreciation of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, as well as San Luis Coastal’s status as a basic aid district, which closes it off to state funding for transitional kindergarten program, further contributing to the budget gap.
During Tuesday’s meeting, San Luis Coastal Superintendent Eric Prater reported that the collective action has produced results: San Luis Coastal is currently in talks with PG&E about a possible agreement to bridge the funding gap and support further legislation to reinstate the unitary tax. Assemblymember Dawn Addis has also agreed to carry a bill that would carve out transitional kindergarten funding for basic aid districts, he said.
But while the options are promising, neither has been cemented, leading the district to Tuesday’s proposed cuts.
San Luis Coastal is not the only local district dealing with budget concerns.
The Paso Robles district recently approved a plan to lay off over 50 people to counter its own $4.9 million budget deficit caused by declining enrollment and the expiration of COVID funds — issues that San Luis Coastal also shares.
Dozens testify against cuts to school counseling
The district proposed two resolutions to the budget deficit Tuesday — one to cut 5.5 counselors and another to eliminate 20.5 classified employees, including classroom aides and office staff.
The cuts were presented in anticipation of the district’s mid-March deadline to notify staff of layoffs.
And like previous meetings, parents and staff made their voices heard, advocating against the cuts to counseling positions.
Rita Rodriguez, a second grade teacher in the district, said the idea of cutting counselors “terrifies” her. She told trustees about a student whose mother has a chronic medical condition and is in the hospital.
“This little boy is not sure where he’s going to live when his mother passes away,” she said. “So, I was able to contact our counselor this morning, and she was able to bring him in for a session.”
Rodriguez added that other students in her classroom have incarcerated parents, are feeling abandoned as their parents go through divorces or are dealing with other trauma.
“I know there is no easy solution to any of this, but those are just some of the circumstances that these children are facing — these children that are less than 10 years old,” she added.
And while the district listed the current uncertainty about the future of public education as a reason to move forward with budget cuts, parents and staff listed it as a reason to keep counselors on board.
“I think that it’s alarming that we would even be considering cutting counseling at any level — given everything that has been happening, and given the current political situation — there’s going to be so many more issues that are going to pop up” said Rose Yuhasz-Fahy, a Los Osos Middle School teacher.
Pacheco Elementary teacher Monica Garcia spoke at the meeting to represent the families of newcomer students and English learners.
“These are families who don’t normally speak up at these meetings They are the ones who work hard, trust this system and quietly adjust when the school programs are cut,” she said. “They don’t rally or make big headlines, but their children will feel every lost opportunity.”
During the meeting, trustee Robert Banfield said he had determined before public comment that he couldn’t vote in favor of a resolution to eliminate counselors.
“There’s got to be some way we can save them,” he told the superintendent apologetically, garnering applause from the audience.
Trustees Chris Ungar, Mark Buchman and Brian Clausen also voiced opposition to the resolution to cut the counselors, despite concerns about the budget, while Marilyn Rodger, Erica Flores Baltodano and Ellen Sheffer expressed support for the resolution.
The motion to cut the counseling positions failed on a 3-4 vote — and while the counselors were saved, trustees voted unanimously to eliminate the 20.5 full-time-equivalent classified jobs that were on the chopping block.
The classified staff cuts received little pushback and no public comment from community members.
Though Tuesday’s approved cuts and the reduction in temporary teaching contracts help start to close the gap — around $5.3 million — the district is still over $1 million short of fully remedying its deficit.
“If we do not find a solution to our budget issues through what I’m hoping to be a white knight in the next year, then I’m going to have to revisit this,” Ungar said.
This story was originally published February 19, 2025 at 11:14 AM.
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