Live Oak School District approves layoffs in bid to avoid state takeover amid budget crisis

Live Oak School District’s governing board unanimously approved a plan Tuesday night to potentially cut dozens of jobs as the district rushed to dig itself out of a budget crisis and avoid a state takeover.

The cuts total the equivalent of 42.32 full-time positions and come amid budgetary issues that have the district facing a $2.9 million deficit for the 2024-25 fiscal year. An additional 8.97 vacant positions are being eliminated for a total of 51.29 full-time equivalent positions.

The positions include seven teachers, a school psychologist and five family liaisons. Three recess coaches are also among the layoff notices the board approved, along with four special education and reading and math instructional aides. Some parents and teachers told the district these employees are essential to their students’ well-being. 

Trustees voted to approve additional layoffs that the district added to its budget stabilization plan this week after angry teachers and parents urged leaders to cut more deeply from the district’s administrative expenses, and to account for an additional $500,000 shortfall that wasn’t part of original estimates. The new cuts include several district office positions such as an administrative secretary, a fiscal services director, an expanded learning-opportunities coordinator and a confidential human resources specialist. 

The County Office of Education first informed Live Oak School District in January that it would not meet its financial obligations in 2024-25 and future fiscal years if it didn’t make significant cuts. Since then, Superintendent Daisy Morales and district staff have been drafting a stabilization plan with the proposed layoffs and several cost-saving measures.  

The Tuesday meeting was the board’s second attempt to approve the layoffs. The governing board failed to vote on the cuts during a meeting last week after no other trustees seconded board president Kristin Pfotenhauer’s motion to call a vote. The district is facing a March 15 deadline to issue layoff notices or risk a takeover by the state. 

Board member Jeremy Ray reiterated during the meeting that the district had to vote on the layoffs to ensure financial stability and, ultimately, to avoid a state takeover. While he said school districts across the state are underfunded, he acknowledged that Live Oak’s board should have caught the crisis sooner and kept the community better informed. 

“Did I take my eye off the ball and screw up?” he asked. “Yes I did.” 

Pfotenhauer warned the meeting that if the board didn’t approve the layoffs, the district risked becoming insolvent. In that case, the state could potentially remove the board’s decision-making authority and give the district a loan to meet its immediate financial needs, which would then need to be paid back. She added that a state takeover can last for years.

Pfotenhauer also apologized for the budget crisis. “All good intentions don’t really matter if the outcomes come out negatively,” she said. 

The board’s resolutions approving the layoffs still need to be finalized by May 14. 

Almost 150 people attended Tuesday’s meeting, filling the majority of the chairs set up across Live Oak Elementary School’s gymnasium after the district moved the gathering from its typical meeting location in Green Acres Elementary School’s multipurpose room.

Parents and teachers continued to ask the district not to make cuts and demanded accountability from the superintendent and board members. District nurse Kendra Doty told the board that the school psychologist and the family liaisons are her support team when it comes to all the non-urgent but important health issues students have daily. She added that these reductions will make it “impossible” to meet the needs of the district’s special ed students. 

“I can’t even imagine how we can push forward with that,” she said. 

Parent Angelica Caballero has a child at Shoreline Middle School and is a recess coach. During the meeting, she said, in Spanish, that she doesn’t understand how the district could cut positions like hers that are essential to the safety of students. She earns about $1,200 a month supervising students and developing games for them to play. 

“When a student is alone in a corner, I help them join activities and games with the kids,” she said. 

Julissa Silva, a parent of three students at Del Mar Elementary School, said, in Spanish, that she was concerned about the loss of support staff for special education students. She said her daughter is a special education student and has been receiving great support.

“I’m concerned about what will happen when she doesn’t receive what she needs,” she said. 

At the end of the evening, dozens of teachers stood up as union leaders read aloud their vote of no confidence in Morales for the fiscal crisis and for creating a poor work environment. About 85 teachers, or 82%, of union membership signed the vote of no confidence. 

In their resolution, the teachers said Morales’ behavior has left her “employees with low morale, frustrated and insecure.” 

The resolution accused Morales of allowing a business department to “operate irresponsibly” resulting in the current crisis, to have “non-existent” communication during the crisis, use “unprofessional and disrespectful language in negotiations or conversations with labor unions” and hire “unqualified personnel for upper administration,” among other accusations. 

Board member Ray said the resolution acts essentially as a symbolic gesture and doesn’t have any authority. He said he didn’t have a comment yet on the vote of no confidence. The board immediately went into closed session after the meeting; Lookout requested a comment from Morales via email but hadn’t heard back as of publication.

The board has another special meeting scheduled for Thursday to hear and discuss an updated draft of the fiscal stabilization plan. Next Wednesday, it aims to vote on the plan. 

“We have to do that next Wednesday,” Pfotenhauer said, as it’s essential for the board to meet its deadlines. 

FOR THE RECORD: This story has been updated to include additional data on the layoffs.

Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.