Proposed ESUHSD Budget Cuts Threaten Student Services and Classrooms, Preserve District Office Administration

At the ESUHSD Board Study Session on Tuesday, January 13, the superintendent presented a proposal to cut $6 million in direct services to students, a plan that would result in the elimination of 49 positions -- including teachers, counselors, social workers, and student-support staff. These proposed reductions represent a serious threat to classrooms, student well-being, and family support systems across the district.

If implemented, the cuts would dramatically reduce academic support, mental health services, college guidance, and classroom stability -- services that families expect and students need.

By contrast, proposed reductions to management affect only 10 administrators, just 4 of whom are from the district office, despite the fact that district-level administration has grown substantially in recent years. While the Superintendent has cited a $1.9 million reduction to administration, five of those cuts involve site administrators who were part of an 11–associate-principal initiative launched three years ago, even as the district faced known financial risks.

That experiment -- now being quietly dismantled -- cost the district approximately $7 million and failed to demonstrate clear benefits to students. Had those funds been invested instead in teachers, counselors, and social workers, the district might have avoided the devastating cuts to student services it now proposes. Yet rather than acknowledging this misstep and meaningfully reducing district-level administration, the current plan places the greatest burden on those who work most closely with students.

The East Side Teachers Association does not call for the elimination of all district administration. However, we firmly believe that more can -- and should -- be cut at the district office level before classrooms and student services are sacrificed. The proposed administrative reductions are simply insufficient given the scale of harm to students.

ESTA calls on the Board of Trustees to reflect on the legacy these decisions will leave behind. Will it be a legacy that prioritizes students, classrooms, and essential services? Or one that avoids hard questions and fails to fully exercise oversight over the Superintendent -- the sole employee directly accountable to the Board?

Students, families, and educators deserve better. The Board must act now to ensure that budget decisions place students -- not bureaucracy -- at the center.

Join us at the Board Meeting on Thursday, January 22nd to advocate for our students! 

830 North Capitol Avenue. San Jose, CA 95133

Email the board at:

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