Paso Robles school district could cut counselors, teachers. Here’s where
The Paso Robles school district could cut more than 25 jobs, including teachers and elementary school counselors, in an attempt to correct its $3.9 million structural budget deficit.
The cuts were proposed at Tuesday night’s school board meeting, where school district parents and staff showed up to oppose the proposals.
According to a budget presentation by assistant superintendent of business services Brad Pawlowski, the district has a structural budget deficit of $3.9 million this year — down from last year’s $4.9 million deficit.
The district has attributed its multi-year deficit to declining student enrollment, which has resulted in fewer dollars coming from the state, as well as the expiration of one-time emergency COVID-19 funds — some of which were used to fund temporary staff positions.
Last winter, the district cut more than 54 positions, including teachers, counselors, management and support staff.
Now, the school board will take up another round of cuts, potentially shedding another 26 employees, including at least five teachers and six counselors, the budget presentation showed.
Pawlowski commented during Tuesday’s meeting on the disconnect between state funding and the school district’s expenses, including staff salaries, which have also recently undergone scrutiny as staff have pushed for higher cost-of-living adjustments.
“It’s the growing gap between baseline funding and the actual cost of providing the level of education and support our students and community expect, while at the same time trying to do our best to maintain competitive wages,” Pawlowski told the board.
He added that any potential cost-of-living increases awarded to staff through labor negotiations were not factored into Tuesday’s proposed cuts.
Parents, school employees and students showed up at Tuesday’s meeting to argue against the cuts — specifically the proposed elimination of elementary school counseling positions — which they said could put young learners at risk of going without mental health care and behavioral support.
What jobs are at risk at Paso Robles schools?
In Tuesday’s presentation, the district proposed cutting 26 jobs — including all district-funded elementary school counselors — and making other budgetary adjustments to ultimately reduce more than $3 million in spending from the general fund.
Assistant superintendent of human resources Shauna Ames told the board the decision to cut staff isn’t an easy one.
“These decisions are based on structure and funding, not individuals, not their performance, not whether they’re doing a great job or not,” she said. “Because our employees do an amazing job.”
Ames guided the board and the audience through the list of cuts, which included all five elementary school counselors, one high school counselor, five teachers, one food service worker, one IT technician, 10 paraeducators, one assistant principal at Lewis Flamson Junior High, one board-certified behavior analyst and one school psychologist.
Some of those positions would be eliminated through attrition — meaning the district wouldn’t fill open positions after retirements or vacancies — rather than layoffs.
Ames added that schools could use their own site funds to pay for counselors if they want to backfill those cut jobs.
But the district also needs to add jobs at Georgia Brown Dual Immersion School, which is projected to grow by more than 100 students next year, according to the presentation. The campus will add four teachers, one counselor, one campus assistant, one family advocate and an attendance technician.
The staff reductions, paired with the addition of jobs at Georgia Brown, were slated to save the district about $866,510.
The district also plans to shift some positions to Local Control Accountability Plan funding, adjust how it funds benefits for retirees and reduce the budgets for school supplies and classified substitutes, for another $2.17 million in savings.
In total, Ames and Pawlowski projected a little over $3 million in reductions for the 2026-27 school year, which would also eliminate any structural deficits projected for the next two years.
Community opposes cuts to school counselors
The cuts to counselors at Paso Robles elementary schools garnered opposition at Tuesday’s meeting.
According to district staff, school surveys and input from site administrators showed that student engagement specialists were prioritized over counselors, which is why those positions were identified as potential cuts.
Ames said the district would continue to provide mental health supports for students. She added that every elementary school site will have a full-time school psychologist on staff as well.
But those explanations didn’t assuage the concerns of parents, staff and some students who encouraged board members to oppose the proposed cuts.
A fourth-grader from Kermit King told the school board about how counselors have helped her and other elementary school students.
“Elementary students have struggles too,” she said. “We need support not just with learning, but with our feelings.”
Megen Guffy, a school counselor at Paso Robles High School, told the board that the district’s elementary school counselors have so far this school year completed 50 suicide risk interventions and 29 self-harm interventions.
“These are not abstract figures,” she said. “These are 79 instances when a child’s life or physical safety was at immediate risk.”
Lindsay Soto, also a counselor at Paso Robles High School and parent of a first-grader in the district, said that the cuts to counselors could disproportionately impact marginalized students.
“The single counselor at Paso High that has been identified to be eliminated is the international counselor who serves our students identified as learning English as a second language,” she said. “The students and families should have access to their counselor who speak their native language, who knows how to work with students who are new to the country or who have been identified as long-term English learners.”
When it came time for trustees to comment, school board member Sondra Williams sided with many of those who spoke out against the cuts Tuesday night, highlighting the difficulty finding mental health care in SLO County.
“It would be a disservice to our community to put those 41,639 students out looking for local care for mental health,” she said. “We will not be able to see those kids in our community. Many of these kids do not have insurance or access, and children who are undocumented are going to be losing access tenfolds.”
She continued: “I will never be in support of cutting counselors.”
Trustee Jim Cogan added that many of the funding challenges faced by schools are out of their control.
“We make these decisions at the ballot box,” he said.
He continued: “These are the tough votes. Unfortunately, they have to be made, and so often it’s because we don’t have any control over the funding that we receive from the state.”
The school board only discussed the budget options Tuesday night and did not make any final decisions on cuts. The item will return for a vote on March 10.
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
