Close to 140 full-time Jefferson County School District employees will be unemployed when summer arrives. Ninety of those eliminated positions will be due to vacancies and current or pending retirements, according to a Dec. 18 community update from the district.
Between December 15-17, approximately 50 central service employees learned they were among those to be let go before the 2026-27 school year. Remaining personnel cuts will be made at individual schools.
Superintendent Tracy Dorland, reading from a prepared statement at the Dec. 18 school board meeting, said the district is “in the midst of very challenging budget reductions necessary to stabilize the district’s financial future.”
“We’ve talked in this boardroom for the last five years about an approaching financial cliff,” she said. “Well, now it’s here and we are grappling with it.”
Dorland called the cuts “incredibly difficult conversations because every one of our employees adds value to this organization. We hope open positions in the spring may be a strong fit for some, or hopefully all, these employees who’s (current) roles will end on June 30, 2026.”
Due to a combination of fewer students and a decrease in the number of young families living in the district—along with other factors— the district had to cut it’s close to $1 billion budget by an estimated $45 million for the coming school year.
Fewer students = less money
Over the past four years, the district has seen a more than 5% enrollment decline (4,259 fewer students) driveBy long-term demographic shifts and lower birth rates.
That enrollment decline also led the district to close 21 schools over the past four years to save about $20 million per year. The declining trend is expected to continue at a similar pace in the future.
Another factor is several years of deficit spending by the district. When schools have fewer students, they receive less per-pupil money from the state.
The district used COVID-19 pandemic-related federal money to increase teacher pay to try to keep pace with surrounding districts. The federal money has since dried up, but district salaries remain at their higher levels.
That, along with increased operating costs, led the district to use reserve money to meet budget needs.
The district plans to consider placing a $15 million property tax mill levy override election ballot question before voters in the fall to generate new revenue and help address its budget issues. It would be the first such measure presented to district voters since 2018.
Cuts affect district services
The community update noted the district budget plan includes reductions across several areas “to align spending with long-term financial sustainability while maintaining essential student services.”
The update listed 10 areas affected by the cuts:
• Food & Nutrition Services: Breakfast and lunch service will continue, but meal options will decrease slightly and staffing will align to industry standards;
• Operations: Remaining custodians will have to clean larger areas, there will be less frequent non-health cleaning and repairs may take longer;
• Special Education: Services to students will continue, some centralized coordination, specialized coaching and other staff supports will change;
• Teaching and Learning: Fewer centralized coordination and professional learning supports for educators in schools;
• School Leadership: Slower response to unfilled substitute requests and longer timelines for team initiatives due to reduced staffing and leadership capacity;
• Student Success: Schools will have less centralized support and coaching for staff that provide social-emotional learning, restorative practices and health support;
• Information Technology: Longer response times, slower device repair and replacement cycles, reduced training and fewer duplicate program options;
• Human Resources: Longer turnaround times for support requests and hiring;
• Financial Services: Schools and departments will experience slower response times, less training and less support with various business functions; and
• Communications & Strategy: More lead time required for initiative roll-out and high-production communications requests.
School-based budgeting will begin in January and schools will inform their communities about timelines, expected impacts and opportunities to take part in the budgeting process.
