Nearly a dozen teachers laid off in Fresno’s Central schools following graduation changes

Ten full-time teachers in Fresno’s Central Unified School District will be out of a job by the end of the school year.

The board voted 5-2 at Tuesday night’s regular meeting to lay off five social science teachers, two Spanish teachers, one physical education teacher, a dance teacher, a business teacher, and a drama teacher. Trustees Naindeep Singh Chann and Jeremy Mehling voted against the layoffs.

Trustee Yesenia Carrillo was the only board member to comment.

“None of us take this decision lightly, and we value all of our educators,” she said. “We also understand, and I understand, our fiscal responsibility to ensure that we are making decisions that keep us fiscally responsible as we move forward.”

The job cuts will not affect the size of classrooms or eliminate programs, Carrillo said.

No tenured staff will be affected by the layoffs, and all the positions were probationary. Those laid off will have the right to be rehired in the order of seniority if there is a vacancy within two years.

Tuesday marked the third time the layoff debate came before the board. The board was initially scheduled to vote on Jan. 27, but it was delayed because some trustees thought the public should be more informed about the issue. Central Unified held a public forum on Feb. 3 to give people more information and the chance to ask questions.

The vote was delayed again on Feb. 23 after Superintendent Andrew Alvarado asked the board to hold off on voting until Tuesday. He didn’t explain why he made that request but said the resolution “may need” to be amended after high school registration is completed in February.

However, the resolution didn’t end up changing.

The board received numerous calls during public comment in January to save teacher positions, but public pressure started to weaken, with only two people calling in Tuesday urging the board to keep the teachers.

A student-run grassroots organization — Coalition for Academic Interest and Reform — has been advocating against teacher layoffs and keeping graduation requirements at 280, citing the negative effects it could have on teachers and students.

The coalition, also known as CAIR, created a change.org petition to save the 10 teachers’ jobs. CAIR also started a change.org petition in favor of keeping graduation requirements at 280. Both have more than 1,000 signatures.

Why lay off 10 teachers?

The layoffs follow the decision in October to lower graduation requirements from 280 credits to 230, a move that requires students to take one fewer class per day. Subtracting 50 credits allowed students to go from eight to six class periods a day, which reduces the number of teachers the district needed for certain subjects.

Teachers will also downsize from six classes to five each semester. The board has said lowering credits is a way to boost graduation rates. Currently, Central Unified is in “targeted school improvement for graduation rates.” Between 300-400 students do not graduate each year.

The district has an 86% high school graduation rate, ranking fourth among the five largest local districts (Fresno, Clovis, Madera, and Sanger are the others) in graduation numbers. The previous requirements held Central Unified students to a higher standard requiring more credits than other districts in the area.

The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Read more from The Bee’s Education Lab here.

This story was originally published March 9, 2021 at 8:11 PM.