East San Jose School District to Lay Off Managers
An East San Jose school district will lay off an unspecified number of managers to address significant budget shortfalls. The cuts are a response to declining student enrollment and are intended to stabilize the district's finances.
The Alum Rock Union School District (ARUSD) is grappling with a budget deficit exceeding $8 million for the 2026-27 school year, a figure projected to climb to $9.5 million the following year due to the expiration of grant funding. This financial strain is the latest in a series of fiscal challenges for the district, which dealt with a $20 million deficit just two years prior. The management layoffs, approved unanimously by the board, target specific roles including the chief of communications and community engagement, coordinator of student information systems, and network and systems supervisor. A separate, split vote also approved pink slips for two executive administrators. These cuts are in addition to the potential layoff of up to 38 other employees in positions like bus drivers, custodians, and health assistants. A primary driver for the cuts is a dramatic and sustained drop in student enrollment. The district has seen its student population fall from over 10,000 in the 2015-16 school year to approximately 7,270 in 2024-25. Projections show this trend continuing, with enrollment expected to dip below 5,500 by the 2030-31 school year. This is not the district's first drastic measure to achieve fiscal solvency. In response to previous shortfalls, the board voted two years ago to close six of its schools, a decision that will take effect in the 2025-26 school year. The district's superintendent noted that some schools were operating at less than half capacity. The financial instability has been compounded by leadership turnover. The district's superintendent was abruptly fired in July 2025, less than a year after being hired to replace the previous superintendent who was also fired in March 2024. The Santa Clara County Office of Education has been closely monitoring Alum Rock's financial health for at least six years due to ongoing fiscal pressures. Without a plan to control its deficit spending, the district has faced the potential of a county takeover to manage its finances.
