The East Side Union High School District is about to lay off more than 80 workers starting next school year, marking another painful blow to a district already stretched thin. The decision, made by the school board in late January, comes as the district grapples with a projected $30 million budget deficit and shrinking student enrollment that’s dropped from nearly 24,000 students in 2017-18 to just over 19,000 today.

The cuts hit hard across the board. The district is eliminating 44 certified positions, including special education teachers, counselors, social workers, and teachers across core subjects like English and math, plus up to 41 classified positions including custodians, clerk typists, and community liaisons. These aren’t just numbers on a spreadsheet; they’re real people who directly support some of the most vulnerable students in our area.

Jack Hammer, president of the East Side Teachers Association, is rightfully concerned about what this means for students who depend on these services. “Social workers deal with the mental health and wellness of our students”, he explained. “Counselors deal with academic support and well-being”. With nearly 70% of district students being low-income English learners, homeless youth, or foster kids, losing these support systems feels catastrophic. “When you have that many kids in your district that are that vulnerable, you must maintain those services”, Hammer said.

Julio Pardo, president of the East Foothills chapter of the California School Employees Association, highlighted how parent and community involvement specialists are essential for immigrant and non-English speaking families. These workers serve as crucial bridges, connecting families to resources and social services they might not know about otherwise.

Superintendent Glenn Vander Zee acknowledged the pain these cuts will cause, but he pointed to a bigger problem: California’s fundamentally broken school funding system. Here’s the kicker, East Side Union High School District receives nearly 40% less funding than wealthier high school districts in Santa Clara County like Mountain View-Los Altos, Fremont Union, and Los Gatos-Saratoga. While East Side spends $14,000 per student annually, Palo Alto Unified spends $26,000.

This disparity stems from California’s reliance on property taxes and attendance-based state funding, which disproportionately hurts communities with lower property values and attendance issues. The district did pass a $49 parcel tax in 2024 that voters approved with 72.6% support, generating roughly $6.4 million annually. But even that lifeline isn’t enough to bridge the gap created by structural inequity.

Vander Zee believes these cuts could have been avoided if the state properly invested in schools like his. “The state currently underinvests in East Side students”, he said. “We are at greater risk because of the structural inequity that’s built into the California school funding system”. The district plans to try rehiring some of these workers and redistributing them across schools, but students will still feel the impact when the new school year begins.