HUSD Board Divided On Management Furloughs

At the February 25th HUSD Board of Education meeting, a divided board approved the Fiscal Stability Plan, which includes over $7,000,000 in ongoing cuts. The reductions include reallocating some funding, but also the closure of Faith Ringgold School of Arts and Science, reducing hours for Library Media Technicians in Middle Schools, and cuts to Family Engagement Specialists, Community School Specialists, and Social Emotional Counselors across multiple school sites. However, Superintendent Chen Wu-Fernandez said that positions may be restored with the passage of an upcoming parcel tax.

Transitioning Middle Schools to 6-8

The HUSD Board of Trustees spent an unusual amount of time debating the process for transitioning Middle Schools from a 7th and 8th grades to a 6th - 8th grade pattern. The transition was generally supported by Trustees, but some were concerned about whether or not there would be a chance to reconsider if it caused more troubles than benefits.

According to Superintendent Chen Wu-Fernandez, the 26/27 school year would be spent analyzing the change and preparing for the transition. It would include the formation of a committee, communicating with students and families about the change, and developing budget and space projections for the school sites.

Unions Not Sold On Change

Members of both the Association of Educational Office and Technical Employees (AEOTE) and the Hayward Education Association (HEA) expressed concerns about the transition for local Middle Schools. Deisy Bates, AEOTE President, worried about the effects on 6th graders, especially regarding vaping at middle schools. "You haven't fixed the problems that you have currently and you're adding to it," she said.

HEA President Mercedes Faraj took issue with approving the transition before doing a full analysis. "You messed up Faith Ringgold, you messed up Strobridge, you messed up Bowman, and now you're messing up with the 6th graders," she said. "It's all wrong. The process is all wrong." Faraj pointed to facilities issues that hadn't been fully thought out, like that TK classrooms have different bathroom requirements.

Board Agrees On Need For Check-Ins

Trustee April Oquenda clarified that the transition would happen in 27/28 "pending a plan that will come before the board for approval." Superintendent Wu-Fernandez said yes and that most districts have a 6-8 model for their Middle Schools. "Given that this is pretty standard practice," Trustee Oquenda said, "I'm willing to give the direction to at least explore it."

Trustee Ken Rawdon said, "In the end, when we make a move like this, it needs to be based on something that is educationally sound, not just because it is a convenience." Superintendent Wu-Fernandez said that the committee, once it was created, would look into that.

The Superintendent attempted to assuage Trustee Sara Prada's fears of potentially harming children. "The Board is providing direction tonight for us to explore the 6-8 model for implementation in 27/28," she said. However, Trustee Prada said that the language indicated that the change is guaranteed with analysis to follow. "But that, to me, is backwards," she said. "I don't have faith in the words and in the process of how we're doing this."

Most of the Board agreed, with Trustee Oquenda modifying the language to make it clear that the vote was only for exploring the change. Superintendent Wu-Fernandez will return to the Board with a plan by June for how things will move forward.

Board Clashes Over Executive Furloughs

The HUSD Board of Trustees approved over $7,000,000 in budget cuts at the February 25th meeting. This included the closure of Faith Ringgold School of Arts and Science and cuts to Social Emotional Support Counselors and Family Engagement Specialists. The District will also lose over $4,000,000 in one-time funding due to grants ending and the collapse of Hayward Promise Neighborhoods. While some Trustees attempted to preserve positions with management furlough days, the majority of the Board voted against it.

Some Changes To The Plan

The plan changed since it was discussed on February 11th. The two Accountability Director positions will be funded by the Alameda County Office of Education (ACOE) for two years, one Independent Study position was restored, the reorganization of the Enrollment Team was scrapped, some Community Schools funding will be used to keep Community School Specialists at all High Schools, and they will cut .30 FTE in Library Media Technicians due to declining enrollment.

Superintendent Chen Wu-Fernandez said that, although the District needed to cut closer to $14,000,000, the plan only includes around $7,000,000 in an effort to "not over cut." They expect good news from the State budget and the future revenue from a parcel tax to make up the difference.

The presentation included a brief analysis of management furloughs, but did not recommend them. The report said that savings are limited and one-time in nature, it puts a strain on operations and compliance, may unduly impact employees who are taking on more work because of reductions, and will decrease support for staff and the community. A single furlough day over the entire year would save $174,000.

Faith Ringgold May Cost More Than Save

Faith Ringgold School of Arts and Science will still be closed, though all of the planning aspects—communicating with affected families, working with labor groups on the impacts to staff, and planning input sessions with the community and staff—will not happen until after the vote. The closure is expected to save $462,000 in staff reductions, though Superintendent Wu-Fernandez framed that as a conservative estimate.

A public speaker pointed out, however, that the plan assumes that the students will stay within the district. But since Faith Ringgold was a school of choice, keeping the students in the District is not guaranteed. "[If] 24 students leave the district, that's $450,000 gone because they take their ADA with them," they said. "With each student in California being worth $20,000, all we need 24 students to say they will no longer stay in the district and this is a complete wash."

Management Furloughs Divide Board

Trustees Sara Prada and Austin Bruckner-Carrillo both supported management furloughs of between 2 and 5 days over a year. This would save the District between $348,000 and $870,000 for a less than 2% pay reduction for each member of Management. However the Superintendent and the majority of the Board did not support it.

Trustee Prada wanted to use the money to save Faith Ringgold, but the Superintendent said the use of restricted and unrestricted funding would complicate that plan.

Trustee Bruckner-Carrillo focused on the political implications for the coming parcel tax. "I feel that every other bargaining unit is giving so much," Trustee Bruckner-Carrillo said. "Folks are going to ask, "Did management take a cut?' How should I respond?"

Trustee April Oquenda spoke against the furloughs. "I count eight admin positions cut, so I do think our District Office and our ACSA unit has been impacted by this," she said. The Unrestricted cuts appear to include four positions—plus two reclassifications—though the loss of Restricted Funding includes many more. Trustee Bruckner-Carrillo pointed out that two of the positions are vacant.

Trustee Bruckner-Carrillo continued to tie the furloughs to the parcel tax. "I appreciate our principals," he said, "[but for elections] it's not principals who come out and walk. It's teachers, it's office workers, it's custodians." He stressed that teacher union endorsements may be in jeopardy. "If they can't get their members to support it... we will not pass a parcel tax."

Creative Tactics Still Lose

During the vote for the Fiscal Stability Plan, Trustee Bruckner-Carrillo introduced a substitute motion that included three to five furlough days for management employees. This was supported by Trustee Prada, but was ultimately voted down by Trustees Ken Rawdon, April Oquenda, and President Peter Bufete.

President Bufete said it was because he didn't support using one-time savings to support ongoing costs. But Trustee Bruckner-Carrillo said, "This plan has so many one-time dollars that are used. And yet the only time we're concerned about one-time funds is when we're asking management, our highest paid employees, to furlough three days."

After the substitute motion was defeated, President Bufete's comments were interrupted by an outburst from members of the audience who needed to be escorted from the building. President Bufete called for a brief recess, after which he said, "[The cuts] are needed to keep our budget fiscally solvent. I think what we're hearing right now is large impacts to people in our district. I see this fiscal solvency [plan] as necessary." He stressed, multiple times, that the District "followed the process."

During the vote, Trustee Bruckner-Carrillo voted in favor of the plan at the last minute, only so he could call for a vote to reconsider. "I would like to do a motion to reconsider, which I can do as a member of the Board who voted in the majority for this item," he said. He was supported by Trustee Prada, but the motion to reconsider was defeated by President Bufete, Trustee Oquenda, and Trustee Rawdon.