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Families in the Redwood City School District will feel many of the impacts of budget constraints starting in the new academic year if they haven’t already.
Budget challenges have increased the number of combined classes in the district and will now leave just the principal as the lone administrator at elementary campuses when classes resume following the summer break.
The cost-savings measures have included reducing teacher positions as well and largely stemmed from the expiration of one-time COVID-19 relief funding.
“These decisions, though difficult, reflect the district’s ongoing effort to minimize the impact on students while operating within our financial means,” RCSD spokesperson Jorge Quintana said in an email.
“The COVID relief funds were a lifeline, providing the community with a glimpse of what is truly possible when we are resourced to meet the full range of student needs,” Quintana said. “Those investments showed us how much more we can do for Redwood City’s children when we come together.”
But with those funds going away, he said, the district has had to eliminate assistant principal roles at the elementary schools.
“Moving forward, families should be aware that one administrator will be leading their school” in the 2025-26 academic year, he said.
He noted that the assistant principal positions were added during the pandemic and didn’t exist previously.
Shrinking enrollment leads to combo classes
The funding loss, coupled with declining enrollment districtwide, has also resulted in an increase in classrooms consisting of students from two grade levels, Quintana said.
“Combination classes are not new and have long been part of how schools operate when enrollment numbers don’t align neatly with grade-level groupings,” he said. “In some cases, individual grade levels no longer have enough students to support a full, standalone class under current funding levels. By forming combination classes, the district has been able to continue offering core academic programs while adjusting to changing student enrollment.”
According to district data, the past academic year’s enrollment of 6,452 students was projected to drop to 5,302 in 2033-34.
Faced with the financial setbacks and enrollment decline, the district had been planning to lay off dozens of certificated and classified employees for more than a year.
In December, District Superintendent John Baker released a report identifying $6.6 million in needed savings ahead of the expiration of state and federal grants that have supported public schools amid the effects of the pandemic.
According to Baker’s report, the measures include reducing administrator posts by $1.5 million; decreasing hours and eliminating contracted services in special education for an additional $1.5 million; and scaling back on mental-health counseling, reading-intervention teaching, and other positions at school sites for $1.3 million.
Oscar Flores, a parent member of Orion Alternative School’s Growth Plan Committee, believes that district families will truly feel the budget pinch in 2025-26.
“The cuts from the previous (school) year were relatively minor in comparison,” Flores said in an email. “Teachers and staff were primarily engaged in the difficult process of deciding what to cut or try to save as the district gave schools some autonomy in making those decisions.”
But he added: “At Orion, we’re fortunate to have a community that’s very engaged. Parents and staff have worked closely together to find creative solutions and raise support, which has helped us preserve many of the programs that were initially on the chopping block.”
Community looks ahead to 2026 tax measure
To potentially help bridge the funding gap in the long haul, the district is studying whether to pursue a parcel tax measure, possibly for the June 2026 ballot.
A grassroots parents’ group is also exploring a community-initiated parcel tax as an alternative strategy to tackle the district’s shortfalls.
“Looking ahead, we are grateful that a large group of parents is actively studying permanent funding solutions to support the long-term financial stability of RCSD,” Quintana said. “These families recognize that with a sustainable source of local revenue, RCSD will be able to innovate and reinstate programs and services for students.
“This community-driven effort reflects a shared understanding that investing in our public schools is essential to maintaining quality education, retaining experienced teachers, keeping class sizes manageable and supporting the overall well-being of students,” he added.
Es mentira que las escuelas no tenían subdirectores. siempre han tenido desde antes de la pandemia. Recortan el presupuesto en los salones y en las escuelas pero en las oficinas de Bradford cada dia tienen mas empleados (y con sueldos extratosfericos) a pesar de que según hay menos alumnos.