_{Joe Hamilton Elementary School | Photo by Amanda Dockter}

Molly Sherman donned her parent hat when she told trustees that she was debating whether or not her daughter was going to Crescent Elk Middle School next year.

A third generation Del Norte Unified School District educator, Sherman sent her kids to Uncharted Shores Academy due to choices the district made in the wake of COVID-19 that she said weren’t best for students.

She began to have a change of heart after seeing things improve, but on Tuesday, with several of her colleagues set to receive pink slips, Sherman told trustees that her daughter likely wouldn’t go to Crescent Elk, the school she taught at for 13 years.

“I love this district. I love our schools,” said Sherman, chair of the math department at Del Norte High School. “I have loved every program I have gotten to be a part of here. But if you continue to make bad choices, she’s not going to sit in a classroom of 35 kids with brand new teachers that don’t know if they’re going to have a job.”

Sherman was one of about 14 people who opposed a DNUSD resolution to issue preliminary layoff notices to about 20 teachers. Fifteen people also spoke out against a similar resolution, this one related to issuing layoff notices to about 15 paraprofessional I employees and more than five library services technicians — members of the district’s classified staff.

Del Norte Unified is following California law by notifying those employees by March 15 that they may not have a job for the 2025-26 school year, Human Resources Director Alyssa Obermeyer told trustees. Final layoff notices for certificated staff are issued by May 15.

But this doesn’t mean the district will follow through on any or all of those potential layoffs, she said.

Four members of the Board of Trustees approved both resolutions, though they were concerned about the addition of a math teacher position identified for possible elimination next school year.

Board President Charlaine Mazzei said she and her colleagues had discussed the potential layoffs during a previous discussion about the district’s budget. She noted that much of that discussion revolved around the 15 multi-subject credentialed teaching positions identified for potential discontinuance next year.

She said she wasn’t expecting to see a math teacher among the potential layoffs.

“We keep talking about how difficult it is to recruit math teachers and how math is a subject we need,” Mazzei said. “So I’m a little surprised to see some of those others up there.”

Trustee Area 2 representative Abbie Crist was absent as was DNUSD Superintendent Jeff Harris.

According to the resolution regarding certificated layoffs, the positions that could be reduced or discontinued in the 2025-26 school year include two physical education teachers, a math teacher, an English teacher, a career technical education (CTE) information and communication instructor, a CTE arts, media and entertainment position and a music position.

Those recommended cuts are due to class sizes and the ratio of students to instructors at Del Norte High School, Obermeyer said, though she was also surprised at the inclusion of a math teacher.

“In terms of credentialed folks from all over the district, I can anticipate we would be able to move people from sites,” she said. “If the high school isn’t needing a math teacher, Crescent Elk is. If they’re not needing a PE teacher, Crescent Elk is. We’ll be able to make those kinds of moves. This piece has to be done first.” 

In a news release Friday, DNUSD stated that its need to “realign its budget and adjust staffing levels” is due to an enrollment decline of about 450 students, resulting in a $6.2 million decrease in funding.

COVID-era dollars, such as Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSR) monies, have expired. Those funds allowed the district to hire instructional support staff and librarians to mitigate learning loss as a result of the pandemic, but “were never intended to create permanent positions.”

The district’s statement also touched on historic student-to-teacher ratios of 24:1 for kindergarten through third grade, 32:1 for grades four through eight; and 35 to 1 for grades nine through 12.

“During the pandemic, these ratios were temporarily suspended,” DNUSD stated. “As enrollment declines, returning to these ratios is essential to ensure staffing levels are aligned with current budgetary needs.”

On Tuesday, Obermeyer said Tuesday’s resolutions were a formality. Speaking to the potential elimination of library technician positions and paraprofessional I positions, she said administrators are trying to see if they can eliminate vacant positions instead of actual people.

DNUSD is also trying to find additional funding to potentially incentivize retirement instead of laying employees off, she said.

Mazzei noted that she and her colleagues had asked DNUSD administrators at a budget workshop Feb. 10 to try to find other ways to pay library technicians since the COVID relief dollars that had funded them have expired. Some school sites have the budget available to support those positions as well as the paraprofessionals if they choose to, she said.

Mazzei also added that there are vacancies in the “paraprofessional realm” staff can move into if their jobs are eliminated.

Obermeyer confirmed that statement, adding that those positions pay more than the current paraprofessional roles identified for possible elimination.

“We have a lot of open positions that paraprofessional I are qualified for,” she said. “We would like to help get them into those positions so the goal is that people aren’t actually losing their job.”

Mazzei’s colleague, Trustee Area 5 representative Michael Greer also pointed out that the Board is considering the future of all positions paid for with COVID-19 relief dollars, including administrative positions. He too suggested that individual schools may be able to find the funding needed to keep their library technicians.

Parents and staff questioned how the district would be able to maintain its historic class size ratio by eliminating teachers. Others noted that the librarians and paraprofessionals at the schools their kids attend provide a safe space and inspiration in addition to improving literacy.

Several also wondered why administrators at the district office — those who don’t work with students — aren’t receiving layoff notices.

Smith River School Principal Nicole Cochran spoke to the idea that school sites could pay for librarians.

“We used to fund them as 3.5 [hour] positions. They had no benefits at that time,” she said. “When they became full time librarians, they came with bennies, which was what we called benefits. There’s no way in our budgets right now that we can fund librarians if you send them back to the site principal. I just wanted you guys to know that in making your decision.”

Page Thompson, a former DNUSD teacher, spoke to the surprise she said she heard from administrators, staff and parents about the proposed cuts. Even if there is a legal deadline of March 15, she said, the district had four years to figure out how to go about funding the library technician positions since they were paid for with one-time COVID funds. Retirement incentives should have been offered before now, she said.

Those who receive layoff notices will now try to find other jobs or potentially break a lease since they need somewhere to work, Thompson pointed out.

“You should have already been doing your best,” she said. “There are a lot of people being paid a lot of money — six-figure salaries — to be planning for these things. I know the Board, you’re volunteering your time, but we all elected you to take care of our students and to take care of our community. You’re talking right now about the people that are in schools and in classrooms, and that is truly the heart of our community.”

When she stepped to the podium, Teri Griffith found herself giving hugs to a handful of Redwood School students who attended the meeting with their parents. She told trustees that she has been employed with DNUSD since 2009 and is one of the paraprofessionals that may lose their job.

Griffith said she had worked in special education and though her current position pays less, she doesn’t want to change. She also doesn’t want someone else to lose their job because she might be the senior employee.“I see 85 kids a day, I do 10 reading groups and I love what I’m doing,” she said. “And I don’t want to be bumped around, I want to continue what I’m doing. I want all paras to keep their jobs so I can keep doing what I’m doing and what I love.”