CCUSD approves 2026 layoff notices

Cuts to positions in the Culver City Unified School District originally approved in March were made official at Tuesday night’s Board of Education meeting, resulting in the loss of 15 teaching positions and nine classified positions. Among those classified positions are a pair of mental health counselors and the District Arts Coordinator, whose layoff notices were approved on Tuesday.

California requires that these layoff notifications be submitted to employees by May 15. No more layoff notices can be issued after that date, but previously issued notices can be rescinded. While 24 positions are being cut across the District, only 12 layoff notices will be issued, as the remaining 12 positions will not be occupied next year due to retirements, resignations, or classification as temporary employees whose contracts are not renewed.

The positions approved for cuts are as follows:

There is an additional motive for the teaching cuts beyond creating short-term cost savings needed to comply with the L.A. County Office of Education’s (LACOE) fund reserve requirements. Board members and District staff have emphasized the need to "right size" the District, and these cuts move CCUSD toward that goal.

Employees who are laid off are placed on a 39-month rehire list, but rehiring is anticipated only if District attendance increases and more employees are needed to maintain compliant class sizes and services.

Some positions, particularly the District Arts Coordinator, are being cut with the hopes of bringing them back once funding becomes available. Outside fundraising from the Culver City Academy of Visual and Performing Arts and the Culver City Education Foundation has provided sufficient funding to maintain the Technical Director position at the Robert Frost Auditorium, but the District Arts Coordinator is slated to be eliminated as currently oriented.

The benefits that the District Arts Coordinator position has brought — particularly while Heather Moses has occupied the position — go above and beyond the scope of the initial position, Board Member Andrew Lachman pointed out. One of the key points made in defense of Moses and the position is the significant amount of money she has raised through grants in her time as the District Arts Coordinator.

“I think over $2.1 million is something we have to appreciate,” Lachman said of Moses’ financial work, “but it also showed that that job and that position need to be updated.”

The District Arts Coordinator position, as currently implemented, does not comply with California Education Code Section 44065, which dictates which functions in a District must be performed by an employee with a valid teaching or service credential. One of these functions is working on “school extracurricular activities related to, and an outgrowth of, the instructional and guidance program of the school,” which is the crux of the District Arts Coordinator's role.

Several Board Members noted that a reimagining of the position was already underway to address compliance issues. Examining this issue as one about people, not positions or fiscal feasibility, was irresponsible, Board Member Lindsay Carlson argued.

“A no vote tonight would just be one more of the same kinds of bad decisions that got us to this point,” Carlson said, “and more of the fiscal irresponsibility the community said loud and clear that they wanted to end in 2024.”

Proceeding without an Arts Coordinator to help manage the vast programming at CCUSD schools was something Board Vice President Brian Guerrero was hesitant to do, but the Education Code concerns and work to reinvent the position were enough for him to move forward.

“It is an absolute priority of mine to make sure that we have some version of this position in the future,” Guerrero said of the District Arts Coordinator. “I don't think our arts programs will function without it.”

Mental health counselor cuts have also been a tough sell for several Board Members, with the initial number reduced from the original proposal of four to the approved total of two. Guerrero and Board Member Triston Ezidore previously stated they were only comfortable with a single cut, with Ezidore particularly concerned about how student mental health services would be affected.

He reiterated those concerns Tuesday night and argued that the District should renew those counselor positions once CCUSD has adequate money to support them.

“The hope is that [mental health services] would be a priority for us,” Ezidore said.

There are several opportunities to increase revenue to reinstate positions before the next school year, but they are controlled by the state. The May Revise of California’s 2026-27 fiscal year budget will be released next month and could include increased revenue for school districts.

Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration is currently deferring funds owed to Local Education Agencies across the state through Proposition 98 to balance the budget, which has significantly impacted Culver City's financial picture.

CCUSD still needed to make up more than $2 million Tuesday night after the Frost Technical Director position was funded, but that could easily be covered by the approximately $7.7 million withheld from the District by the state over the past two years.

The California School Boards Association is suing the state over this issue, and local advocates have suggested that California Senators and Assembly Members should not approve any budget that does not funnel Prop 98 funds into schools.