Bellevue Union school board postpones vote to cut 30 staffers due to declines in state funding

Bellevue Union School District board members, in a unanimous 5-0 vote Tuesday night, postponed a vote on a controversial proposal to cut 30 staff positions across the district’s four elementary schools.

The plan, which would offset a significant decrease in state funding attributed to inflation and declines in revenue, would eliminate 25 classified employees including literacy professionals, teachers’ aides, family engagement facilitators, and certified staff such as, teachers on special assignment.

The board’s decision followed a string of emotional pleas from parents and teachers who urged members to reconsider this plan, which they contended would immediately, directly and negatively impact students’ overall success.

“I come to you as a mom and an employee,” said a teary-eyed Nicole Guerra, who works as a student supervisor at Bellevue Elementary.

“I have a kindergartner that would be lost if he did not get help from the instructional assistant,” she told district leaders.

Holding up a poster containing handprints of students in her son’s transitional kindergarten class, Guerra called it a testament to the success of the teacher’s aide who works with her son.

She said she didn’t think he would have ever been able to participate in any kind of group projects before this individualized assistance. Now, he stays focused and on task.

“My other son, (in) first grade, as able to work his way with the literary paraprofessionals and get the help that he needed,” Guerra added. “Where would my kids be without them? They would be lost.”

Over 30 positions would be terminated at the end of the school year if the board approves the proposal. It appears to be one solution to keep the district from financial ruin as it — and scores of others in Sonoma County and across the state — confronts the grim outlook on California’s education funding.

The Legislature’s analysis of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s state budget proposal, which was released last month, showed declines in state revenues and a less than 1% percent annual inflation adjustment awarded to school districts.

Last year’s adjustment was 8.22%.

“I know there's still negotiations happening with the Legislature, but we have to operate with (the) ... current information that we have,“ said Bellevue Union Superintendent Michael Kellison prior to the meeting on Tuesday. ”We had to revise down our revenues for next year because of that significant reduction, and for us, that means about $950,000 less in revenue.“

This tiny district, located in southeast Santa Rosa in an area south of Roseland and west of Bennett Valley, is made up of four K-6 schools. It serves just over 1,600 students.

Kestrel Levitis, a third grader at Kawana Springs Elementary, told board members Tuesday night she was worried about other students who might not have a chance at the success she has had should her teacher lose her job.

The girl’s head poked just above the podium as she traced her finger across the lines of text on the statement she read to the board.

“Earlier this year, I could barely read and write,” Kestrel said. “With the help of my teacher and many others, including Meastra Servin, now I can. I am afraid that her resource specialist teacher job is on the list of jobs that are probably going to be cut. That means the students that are younger than me with the same problems won’t get the help that they need.”

Her father Dan Levitis, who is also president of the parent organization La Familia de Kawana Springs, spoke after his daughter. He urged the board to delay its decision, bringing public comment to a close at 7:15 p.m.

To continue support costs for staffing, services and operating expenditures as they currently stand would mean the district would have to pull from its existing revenue reserves, Kellison said.

And pulling from the district’s pool of unrestricted funds is simply not sustainable, he added.

“We are looking at a multiyear issue in terms of expenditures being greater than revenues brought in,” Kellison said. “As a result of that, we are currently in a deficit-spending situation, which means that we have to lean on our reserves. If we continue to do that, we will not have the required 3% restricted reserves over the next two years.”

When a district does not keep at least 3% of its total revenues in its reserves pool, it has to file as a “qualified” district with the state — a category that puts the district in bad financial standing for at least one year.

To remain above the 3% threshold, Bellevue Union would need to create immediate revenue of at least $650,000.

Cutting 25 classified employees would accomplish that, Kellison said, and give the district more options for the 2025-26 school year, which might also be another year of reduced funding from the state.

The classified employees that could be cut include: one technology coordinator, one early learning center coordinator, a groundskeeper, three teachers’ aides, one family engagement facilitator, and 10 literacy paraprofessionals.

Removal of the literacy positions would mean the end of the program, according to Teresa Gomez, vice president of the Classified School Employee Association, Bellevue Union chapter. She said she’s worried about the inevitable impact on students’ learning.

“They’re essential — we have a lot of kids who are non-English speaking, kids who are below grade level and the support is going to be gone for them,” she said.

The state doled out one-time funds during the pandemic to help districts finance these positions to address learning losses, but in many districts, that funding has since run out.

Also on the chopping block are five teachers on special assignment, the district’s only program specialist, and its only director of education services. If these positions are cut, other site or district administrators will pick up those duties.

Choosing which positions to cut was a collaborative effort, Kellison said, adding that he met with the teachers union and the union for classified employees over the past month.

“I think that any of the reductions that we're proposing, people have concerns about the potential impact on our students, and we really try to prioritize the reductions as far away from classrooms as possible,“ he said.

Staff cuts would not be the only budget reductions to be made, Kellison said. In the future, the district will implement programmatic changes and renegotiate its contracts for services and goods.

The board has not chosen a date to reconsider the proposal, but it will be “in the very near future,” Board President Jamie Padilla said.

Report For America corps member Adriana Gutierrez covers education and child welfare issues for The Press Democrat. Reach her at Adriana.Gutierrez@pressdemocrat.com.