The Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education Thursday, Feb. 27, will vote on whether to cut approximately 150 full-time positions including teachers and district staff members.

United Teachers of Pasadena President Jonathan Gardner said 115 teacher positions are included in the proposals.

“Many of the very teachers who have had their homes burned will also be subject to a layoff notice very soon,” Gardner said in an email.

Approximately 90 PUSD teachers, staff and administrators were displaced by the Eaton fire, according to Public Information Officer Hilda Ramirez Horvath.

She said while it’s possible that teachers who lost their homes will also be included in layoffs, the process is tightly governed by collective bargaining and state law.

The fire destroyed or damaged Eliot Arts Magnet Middle School, Aveson School of Leaders, Odyssey Charter School-South, Pasadena Rosebud Academy and Franklin Elementary School.

At last month’s board meeting parents and students criticized the district’s actions in relocating impacted students and offering adequate space at other district sites for the remainder of the school year.

According to the board of education meeting agenda, two sets of layoffs will be voted on this week. The first includes 117.6 full-time equivalent certificated positions including mostly teachers as well as behavioral and wellness coaches.

Gardner said the cuts will be for the 2025/26 school year. Preliminary cuts will be submitted by March 15 and final cuts will be announced on May 15, Gardner said.

“In between there are many legal steps that have to be followed, including typically a hearing with an administrative law judge,” Gardner said.

In addition, 34 classified positions are proposed to be cut as June 30 due to a lack of work or lack of funds.

Horvath said that included in the 151 positions vacant positions, temporary contracts and reassigned employees.

Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco and Chief Business Officer Saman Bravo-Karimi defended the proposed layoffs in a Op-Ed submitted to this newspaper citing declining enrollment, rising costs and the expiration of COVID-19 relief funds, which combined to create “immense financial strain.”

“If we do nothing and the district’s finances continue to deteriorate, eventually, the state will be required to step in and take action,” the Op-Ed read.

Blanco and Bravo-Karimi wrote that the largest driver of financial strain has been declining enrollment.

The board of education meeting is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. with closed session items. The portion of the agenda which includes the proposed layoffs begins at 5:45 p.m.