Soquel Union Elementary board to consider layoffs as teachers, district reach impasse

The Soquel Union Elementary School District board will consider a layoff proposal during its Wednesday meeting, at the same time as contract negotiations between the teachers union and district stall out. 

The district staff recommended reductions for an equivalent of nearly 17 full-time positions including one counselor, four administrative specialists, a benefits technician, four custodians and a range of other positions.  

Teachers union co-president D-R Martin told Lookout she thinks the layoffs are unnecessary and said the union is continuing to demand a 3% wage increase this year. The district offered no increase. 

“Once again, here we are: The district with the lowest compensation in the county,” she said. “It just feels like we’re very undervalued.”

Since May last year, the SUESD teachers union has been in negotiations with the district for a raise for this year, a cost-of-living adjustment raise for next year and increased health benefits contributions from the district. For years, Soquel Union Elementary teachers had the lowest pay in Santa Cruz County, and in 2022 fought for a 15% increase. But with inflation and higher health care costs, teachers say their take-home pay has dropped and isn’t keeping up with rising costs. In a recent union survey, 47% of the teachers across the district’s four schools reported actively looking for other jobs after this academic year. 

The union and the district failed to reach an agreement in recent mediation meetings and the parties are at an impasse, which Martin said is the first time in her 28 years at the district. The next step is fact-finding, where one district representative, one union representative and one neutral individual work through the issues to recommend a compromise. District officials and the union would then decide whether to accept it or not. If not accepted, Martin said the union would then vote on whether to strike. 

Superintendent Scott Turnbull said implementing layoffs is painful, but due to enrollment decline and rising costs, the district has been struggling with a deficit since 2023-24. While he said the staff deserve more compensation, the district budget can’t sustain it. 

“Because our revenue has declined significantly due to enrollment loss, about 25% over the past decade, any ongoing raise must be supported by ongoing revenue,” he wrote to Lookout via email. “At this time, we do not have the sustainable funding to responsibly commit to additional ongoing increases without worsening our deficit. This is not about unwillingness to give a raise; it is about fiscal sustainability.” 

The proposed layoffs for staff with teaching credentials include one full-time-equivalent counselor, .20 of a full-time district nurse and .50 of a full-time intervention teacher. 

The board will also consider eliminating 14.8 full-time-equivalent positions among classified staff: four administrative specialists working just under full-time, one full-time benefits technician, one vacant part-time position for a community liaison, four full-time custodian positions, two part-time instructional aides, one director of fiscal services, one data information specialist, one vacant payroll technician position, one vacant part-time school office assistant and two full-time wellness coaches. 

Main Street Elementary School fifth grade teacher Ilana Lowe said this year is the first year she’s felt real financial anxiety and pressure. Her take-home pay has decreased each year over the past three years because of rising health care costs, while her rent has increased. 

“How can I stay in my home if every year the rent goes up and every year my salary doesn’t?” she said. “Nobody can be expected to live in this town.” 

She and her husband have rented the same home for the past 11 years and have a 15-year-old son. Lowe has taught at Main Street for nearly 20 years and her husband is a therapist, so they make decent incomes, she said. But three years of lower take-home pay and higher rent started to take a toll this year, when an unexpected $905 brake replacement for her car caused “real stress.” 

In 2024, her monthly rent was $3,260 and her take-home pay was $5,080. In 2025, her rent went up to $3,300 and her take-home went down to $4,800 because she had to pay more to cover the cost of her family’s health insurance. This year, her rent went up again, to $3,492, and her take-home income decreased again, to $4,683, because of rising health care costs. 

Lowe said she loves working at the school district and is proud of the quality of education the community provides there. Lowe said she’s heartbroken to learn that 47% of the teachers are looking for jobs elsewhere. 

“It’s devastating,” she said. “That would be just a tremendous loss.” 

Martin said the union represents 91 employees who hold teaching credentials, mostly teachers but also 10 counselors, speech pathologists and nurses. Their current contract expired June 30, 2025. 

Turnbull said over the past several years, the district has tried to reduce its deficit, by cutting administrative positions, seeking reimbursable funds and increasing attendance, all to avoid layoffs. 

“These are painful decisions,” he wrote to Lookout. “They are not value statements about our staff. They are financial realities in a shrinking system.” 

The district’s school board meeting is Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at New Brighton Middle School, located at 250 Washburn Ave. in Capitola. Teachers, staff and their supporters will gather at 5:30 p.m. at the middle school for a rally in support of the workers. 

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