Fresno Unified is slashing jobs and shuffling staff as the cash-strapped district stares down a ballooning budget crisis ahead of the 2026-27 school year.
Trustees voted Monday during a special board meeting to push forward with sweeping layoffs and employee “bumps” after officials revealed the district’s projected deficit has exploded to $88 million next year — a staggering 49% jump since February.
Now, nearly 200 classified employees are expected to receive final notices involving layoffs, displacement or reduced positions.
David Chavez, Fresno Unified’s chief of human resources, told the Fresno Bee the positions were being cut because of declining enrollment, down by nearly 1,000 students.
The district won approval to shrink its classified workforce after an administrative hearing centered on Fresno Unified’s grim financial outlook.
District officials argued they no longer had the money to maintain current staffing levels and the judge agreed.
The district is now launching its so-called “bumping” process, which allows some laid-off employees to slide into comparable vacant jobs or replace workers with less seniority, Chavez said.
The employee who gets displaced then enters the same process, creating a domino effect across the district.
Fresno Unified officials say they hope to keep fully-benefitted employees within the district whenever possible, though some workers could be forced to accept lower-paying jobs or entirely different assignments to stay employed.
The bumping policy applies to all fully-benefitted district employees, Chavez said.
The district’s financial meltdown first surfaced publicly in February, when Fresno Unified warned that 274 jobs could be impacted.