The San Diego Unified School District has notified more than 400 employees, including teachers, that they could be laid off. Other school districts in San Diego County and across California are also facing the possibility of laying off teachers and staff members.
As NBC 7 has reported, the third and final round of COVID relief funds expire in September. The combined state and federal funds allowed for districts to hire more staff and teachers. In some cases, it kept classrooms smaller.
Mike Fine, the CEO of the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, said the relief funds expiration is just one factor that is creating a budget deficit for school districts in California.
“The difficulty for school districts is if you have any staff tied to those grant funds, and they were one-time grant funds, and everybody’s known that since day one,” Fine said.
Fine said the other major reason behind the financial shortfall is lower enrollment linked to …