Cutting Costs: PRJUSD Faces $4.9M Budget Cuts Amid a Decline in Student Enrollment

PRJUSD board members voted to eliminate 54.5 full-time jobs during the Feb. 11 meeting of the board amid a $4.9 million budget deficit due to the depletion of COVID relief funds and a decline in student enrollment.

The district offered staff members close to retirement a deal to retire in June 2025 and receive a salary at or near their current wage, which led to a higher rate of attrition than the district would normally see and significant budget savings.

The list of jobs currently under review in the district to be reduced include 22 certificated positions teachers and counselors,  24.5 classified positions paraeducators, two certificated administration positions, and six classified administration positions, according to the board meeting. PRHS has eliminated a counselor position and Assistant Principal as of Mar. 25. 

Union Representative Christopher Smith, in response to the loss of jobs in the district explains,

“It always feels weird to say we support students and then lose teachers and staff that do that, but there’s an economic reality that we only have a limited amount of money, and the union has been working with the district to figure this out,” he said. 

On Mar. 15 of certificated and classified positions at PRHS were notified that their job was eliminated due to the budget deficit in the district. Part of the reason for the reduction in staff is also due to staff costing the district 88.3% of its budget in salaries and benefits. 

The reduction of PRHS staff was an issue in January concerning the Ag Department and teacher Alison Weiss.

With misinformation surrounding the reductions to the Agriculture Program at PRHS, the board is finding a solution to the low enrollment in the following Ag. Courses: Environmental Horticulture, Ag. Business, Ag. Leadership and Intro to Livestock as each course costs the district roughly $20,000 to run. 

Possible solutions to the low enrollment in the Ag courses that currently have 10 or fewer students enrolled before freshman registration has been completed include combining two different levels of the course into one class or offering the class every second or third year. Once freshman registration is complete, the district will reevaluate these three courses based on student interest in the courses. 

The PRJUSD will determine the final Measure M (a $95 million bond passed in 2016) investments in its infrastructure within the coming months, according to Superintendent Jennifer Loftus in an interview with Paso Daily News.

With the elimination of two positions at PRHS, Principal Megan Fletcher says,

“Here at PRHS, we are dedicated to our students and their success – we will ensure that no matter what happens with the budget, our students will have everything they need to achieve.”