Staffing Review

Staffing is reviewed as part of the District’s ongoing annual budget and planning process. When a position becomes vacant or a new position is proposed, the District cabinet team works with school and department leaders to determine whether the position should be filled, adjusted, held, eliminated or added based on student and operational needs.

This review considers several factors, including enrollment, class size guidelines, course requests, student needs, program needs and opportunities created through retirements, resignations or other vacancies.

Over the past three years, District teams have reviewed 644 positions through this process. Of those positions, 594 were filled as-is and 48 were eliminated. Each of the 48 reductions was achieved through attrition, including retirements and resignations, with minimal or no impact on existing student programming and services.

The eliminated positions included reductions across several employee groups, including certified staff and specialists, administration, educational assistants and interpreters, office and library support staff, and custodial staff.

For 2025-26, the District has had 104 total separations to date, including 36 retirements and 68 resignations. These vacancies continue to provide opportunities to review staffing needs before positions are refilled.

At the same time, the staffing review process is not only about reducing positions. Staffing may also be added when student needs, program needs or enrollment changes require additional support. For example, the addition of full-day 4K programming resulted in an increase in both certified and non-certified staff to support five new full-day classrooms, with a total recurring cost of approximately $558,000.

Class size is also an important part of the staffing review process. The District’s class size policy establishes target student-to-teacher ratios ranging from 22:1 in kindergarten to 30:1 in grades 5-6, with secondary class sizes generally targeted between 20 and 32 students per section. Current average class sizes remain within Board-established guidelines, averaging 21 students at the elementary level, 23 students at both PJ Jacobs and Ben Franklin Junior High Schools, and 24 students at SPASH.

As this work continues, future staffing updates will shift from cumulative three-year totals to annual reporting, while historical information will remain available for reference