The sweeping preliminary layoff notices will impact over 160 full-time equivalent certificated positions and scores of classified positions.
“These decisions affect valued colleagues who have dedicated themselves to serving our students and schools,” Blanco said in the Feb. 27 statement. “We recognize the uncertainty and hardship this brings.”
The reductions affect every school and department in the district, according to Blanco.
Under state law, preliminary reduction-in-force notices must be issued by mid-March. The positions on the list approved by the board were identified through the Superintendent’s Budget Advisory Committee process conducted last fall, along with other workstreams including staffing/vacancies and grant maximization, according to the statement.
The notices are preliminary and part of a broader process that continues through June 30 in alignment with the district’s collective bargaining agreements, Blanco said.
Blanco said the district is on a stable fiscal path approved by the Los Angeles County Office of Education as it implements its adopted Fiscal Stabilization Plan.
“Contrary to some claims, there is no ‘found’ money,” Blanco said. “Suggesting otherwise creates false hope and does not reflect our financial reality.”
The superintendent said the district is “living within our fiscal reality, as difficult as it is, to protect student learning, the district’s long-term ability to serve future generations, and local control.”
Blanco reaffirmed the district’s commitment to programs that prepare graduates to be “college and career-ready, multilingual, critical thinkers, and strong communicators.”
“This is a painful moment,” Blanco said. “And our commitment to students is unshaken.”
Get our daily Pasadena newspaper in your email box. Free.
Get all the latest Pasadena news, more than 10 fresh stories daily, 7 days a week at 7 a.m.
