Fresno Unified plans $49 million budget cut. Here’s how many jobs are at risk
Fresno Unified School District plans to make $49 million in cuts for the 2025-26 school year, including 59 full-time positions, amid continued declines in enrollment and student daily attendance.
After making $26 million in budget cuts last year, the state’s third-largest school district has had to deal with another shrinking budget. One-time grants that poured in during the pandemic delayed the pain and grew the budget to $2.3 billion for the 2023-24 school year. Now, the district expects to cut $48.9 million, $22.4 million and $23.5 million over the next three school years.
For the upcoming school year, the district’s central office will take the hardest hit, with a proposed cut of 34.3 full-time equivalent positions, following last year’s reduction of 61.3 full-time positions, according to a staff presentation at Wednesday’s board meeting.
Of the school-site level cuts, the biggest change is the reduction of 41 “teacher on special assignment” positions stemming from the termination of the Designated Schools program that gives students at 41 sites 30 additional instructional minutes each day.
District officials say the program has delivered mixed learning outcomes. The cuts are partially offset by the increase in teachers and paraeducators as part of the district’s effort to lower class sizes, which ultimately results in a net decrease of 24.5 full-time equivalent positions for school sites.
“You’re seeing a huge investment that the board has made in resources at the site level, with folks who have the most ability to directly impact students,” said Patrick Jensen, the district’s chief financial officer. “(There’s been) a massive increase in the number of paraeducators, safety assistants, nurses, and modifications based on staffing formulas.”
Fresno Unified follows an “academic return on investment” strategy in budget development, Jensen said. Specifically, the district determines the efficacy of the dollars spent based on the student learning outcomes and how well the program meets the district’s goals.
Earlier this year, the governing board finalized four long-term goals for the district: early literacy, literacy intervention, college and career readiness, and life skills development.
“Moving into the budget in the future, you’re going to see a higher level of alignment where we’re adding and reducing resources to be specifically tied to these goals,” Jensen said. “We’re going to assess the services we’re providing and prioritize what we think is most effective. It’s about sifting through that and finding out the most effective strategies to keep doing.”
There will be no layoffs at Fresno Unified this year, Jensen said. Most of the position cuts are from eliminating vacant positions and moving teachers on special assignments back into the classrooms.
Besides Designated Schools, Fresno Unified has no plans to further reduce programs and services. The main reason for the larger budget cuts in the Prevention and Intervention and English Learners departments is the removal of positions in the central office, Jensen said.
The district is proposing an $8.3 million salary increase and teacher supply allotments for impacted Designated Schools teachers. A planned $2.9 million budget increase will lower class sizes.
Fresno Unified also expects to receive the last two annual COVID emergency funds of $895,000 for the African American Academic Acceleration program and $4 million for the Department of Prevention and Intervention over the next two school years.
Though staff is still studying the impact of the governor’s revised budget proposal, which was released earlier this week, Jensen said it made no significant changes to K-12 education funding.
The governing board will adopt the district’s budget in June.
This story was originally published May 15, 2025 at 2:41 PM.
