APRIL 5TH, 2023

All, 

Since early February, the board and administrative team have been in discussions over the staffing plan for the 2023-2024 school year.  The burden of the elected officials and our administrative staff is always to create a progressive academic program that is fiscally responsible to the taxpayers of the Woodland Hills School District. After heavy deliberation, we are prepared to present a plan publicly on Wednesday, April 12, 2023 at 7:00 PM at the public board meeting. Early in our discussions, the Board of Directors decided to offer a substantial “Early Retirement Incentive” to staff to ease the impact of possible furloughs. Concurrently, an independent audit of our special education spending was being conducted. Both the ERI selections and the audit had a hard deadline of March 31, 2023. These two data points, along with the ending of the ESSERS funding, drove our deliberations.

The District received substantial ESSERS funding in the previous years, funding meant to assist with learning loss due to COVID-19. Many districts used this funding to maintain current positions while also adding supplemental supports for both students and staff. The problem public schools are now facing is this: What do you do with the positions once the ESSERS funding runs out? The current ESSERS funding is due to expire at the end of the 2023-2024 school year. With an eye to the future, our administrative team crafted a fiscally responsible budget plan that moves positions listed under ESSERS funding out of that temporary grant funding line item and into the general fund. The purpose of this is so that we can keep necessary supports after the grant money has expired.  

Unfortunately, it is impossible to save all positions. This forced serious deliberations around what the district could maintain and what had to be eliminated. These final decisions, while never easy, are necessary to balance resources with needs.

Here are some important dates in this process:

• Tuesday, April 4th, the School Board met with the Central Office Team in a private executive session to make final decisions on the staffing plan.

• Wednesday, April 5th, the Central Office Team and WHEA Union Officers met to review the plan and discuss the next steps.

• Tuesday, April 11th at 4:30 pm at Woodland Hills HS Auditorium, Dr. Castagna and team will meet with all staff for a formal presentation. 

• Wednesday, April 12th at 7:00 Public Agenda Setting Meeting.  Here, the formal presentation will be shown publicly. 

On a positive note, the plan we are presenting preserves our strong academic commitment to a K-12 STEAM program for all while keeping of these important programs and personnel:

- all Honors and AP courses

- all Music offerings and programs

- all Specialist and RTI positions in the Elementary

- all Social Workers and Guidance Counselors District-Wide

These, as well as additional supports in our Transportation Office and a bolstered Athletic-Academic support system, should highlight for our stakeholders that we remain committed to excellence. Of special note are many upgrades to safety and security.  We are at unprecedented levels of safety in the Woodland Hills SD. 

To our community at large, we heard you and have decided that our 2023-2024 Budget Proposal will also adopt a .5 mill decrease to all. Our preliminary estimates show this would equate to roughly a $75 decrease for every $100,000 in assessed property valuation (before the homestead exemption). Finally, this District is in a position to give back to the community while providing a diverse learning experience few can truly offer.

We encourage the public to attend the Wednesday, April 12th board meeting in person or via Zoom to hear the formal presentation of this plan.

Sincerely,

Dr. Daniel Castagna