Elk Grove Unified School District is preparing to cut 31 classified jobs next school year as one-time pandemic recovery dollars dry up, according to district and union leaders. The reductions, set to take effect in the 2026-27 school year, hit a wide swath of support roles, from paraeducators and library technicians to mental-health therapists and prekindergarten instructors. Trustees signed off in February on a package of eliminations, reassignments and vacancy reductions at the same meeting where they boosted their own monthly stipends, a combo that has not exactly played well with staff and community members. District officials say they will work to reassign employees where possible and look for other funding to preserve key services.
Board action and staffing totals
As reported by The Sacramento Bee, district officials and the California School Employees Association confirmed that 31 classified employees will be cut and that the board voted to eliminate, release or reassign those positions. Local coverage and board documents indicate the move affects 60.0388 full-time equivalent positions in total, including about 18.6825 FTE that are currently vacant. The jobs on the chopping block span an array of student-facing and school-support roles, including paraeducators, library technicians, counseling staff and college-and-career technicians, according to reporting by the Elk Grove Citizen.
Why funding ran out
Most of the targeted roles are tied to the state Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant, a one-time program created in the wake of the pandemic that sent roughly $6.8 billion statewide to help districts beef up tutoring, counseling and extended-learning supports. In a statement to The Sacramento Bee, district spokesperson Amari Watkins said many positions were designed from the start as temporary and that "all positions funded by LREBG were intended to expire by June 30, 2026," although the district "anticipates using new and alternative funding to continue some positions through June 30, 2028." The California Department of Education overview of the Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant similarly underscores that the money was a one-time pot with a defined spending timeline.
Union reaction and optics
For classified staff, the way the board handled the timing stung almost as much as the cuts themselves. California School Employees Association Elk Grove chapter president Rocio Galvan told reporters that announcing layoffs on the same night trustees approved a significant stipend increase felt like "a gut punch" to employees who work directly with students every day. Union leaders argue the optics will only make it harder to recruit and retain lower-paid classified workers at a time when the district is already wrestling with a budget shortfall. Trustees have defended the stipend hike as a way to make board service more accessible to community members who cannot afford to volunteer that much time without compensation, while insisting they still have to juggle multiple, competing financial priorities, according to the Elk Grove Citizen.
What comes next for affected staff
District officials say they will try to place impacted employees into other openings where their seniority and qualifications allow, following the district's usual personnel procedures and the terms of its contracts with labor groups. The board’s vote is an administrative step in a longer process. Under standard collective bargaining rules, workers whose positions are eliminated are typically given notice, bumping or reassignment options, and placement on rehire lists. Board documents, meeting materials and current labor agreements are available on the Elk Grove Unified website, along with the district’s posted EGUSD union contracts for staff and families who want more details on how the process works.
