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The Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District Board of Education last week distributed an initial draft of budget reduction options for next school year, totaling just over 124 full-time equivalents and an estimated $18 million in cuts.
The initial draft hit the email boxes of district families and staff last Friday (Jan. 2), along with a request from board president Steven Drouin for alternative recommendations.
Options currently on the table arise from the district’s need to decide by February how it will reduce its budget by approximately $11 million for the 2026-27 school year.
An additional $5.2 million in reductions must be identified by next February for the 2027-28 school year, followed by potential cuts in the next year to meet the Education Code’s 3% minimum reserves requirement if state funding “does not fill the gap”, Drouin explained in the letter.
Meanwhile, a tentative agreement between district and teachers union negotiators for increased compensation and benefits awaits final ratification by members of the union and approval by the board — ongoing costs would be reflected in the 2026-27 and 2027-28 cuts, district officials said last month.
At the board’s regular meeting Jan. 13, trustees are set to review the preliminary reduction list and provide direction to staff. The upcoming consideration of cuts follows on the heels of approximately $6 million in reductions approved last spring.
“Continued negotiations to prioritize our employees…requires us to rethink and reimagine aspects of the district’s spending,” Drouin said in his message to the community.
The district is poised to reduce positions or reassign employees as part of some “very tough decisions,” he added.
As directed by the board, Superintendent Torie Gibson recommended options to reduce and/or eliminate select district administrators, site administrators, teachers on special assignment as well as roles within district support services, site support services and K-12 education.
District savings are also recommended to come from technology; temporary freezes of “Me Too” contract clauses for the cabinet and employee groups Livermore Management Association and Classified Manager/Confidentials; reduced pay rate for substitutes and the shift of funding sources.
Employees working within K-12 education see the greatest share of proposed cuts (48.8 FTE), with an estimated monetary value of $5,458,242, according to the draft.
Within K-12, reductions are proposed most severely for paraeducators (22.5 FTE) and general education teachers (8.9 FTE).
Of the paraeducators, the draft states, “This reduction is due to program changes that have been created through the special education workgroup.”
As for general education teachers, “The reduction is due to lower enrollment at some sites” and is meant to ensure “classes are at capacity across the district”, according to the draft.
Also facing the potential of double-digit cuts are custodians (10 FTE), meaning classrooms would be cleaned less frequently, the draft states.
Among district administration, five FTE are proposed for elimination in addition to work year reductions during 2026-27 for 15 individuals, for a total estimated savings of $1.1 million.
To assist board members in reviewing the draft recommendations, each of the reduction options is ranked according to their expected impact on a range of factors such as legal compliance as well as students and programs.
The recommended cuts anticipated to have a significant impact on students and programs include the elimination of one vice principal at Granada High School, two VPs at Livermore High School and one VP at Del Valle Continuation High School/Vineyard Alternative School; the reduction of library media specialists’ daily hours at each site; elimination of Kid Connection instructional specialists (2.9 FTE); elimination of health technicians (2.7 FTE) and staff at Vineyard Alternative.
By comparison, LVJUSD officials estimated last month that the district needed to make approximately $14.7 million in ongoing cuts for the 2026-27 budget and an additional $1.5 million for the following academic year.
The board was previously set to host a special meeting on Monday morning (Jan. 5) to begin discussing the proposed reductions.
“As Board President, I felt that it was important for the board to meet and begin these discussions as soon as possible,” Drouin said of the initial plan.
“In retrospect, and based on feedback we received, we believe it is critical that these discussions occur in a meeting that allows as many of our employees and community members to attend as possible,” he said of the decision to hold the discussion next week instead.
Ahead of the Jan. 13 meeting, Drouin encouraged the public to email alternative budget recommendations to himself or Gibson or to submit formal board correspondence. Drouin also said he contacted the leaders of employee units for their feedback and input regarding the initial proposals.
Assuming the teachers union ratifies the tentative agreement, the board will consider approving the item at the Jan. 13 meeting.
After next Tuesday, a second draft of proposed reductions may be created, with a subsequent special board meeting for its review.
The reduction options will not be discussed at the regular morning meeting Jan. 29.
However, a formal budget resolution must be approved during the Feb. 10 regular board meeting in order to distribute preliminary lay off notices by the March 15 deadline. During the meeting, a second interim budget report is also set for presentation in compliance with the state’s Education Code.
