In a surprising, last-minute reversal, the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) announced Friday that it will rescind 151 of 160 planned layoffs of school counselors and paraeducators — a decision that comes after months of outcry from educators, students, and families.
The cuts — 117 paraeducators and 34 counselors — had been approved earlier this year to help close the district’s $114 million budget deficit. Preliminary layoff notices were issued in February and March, and many believed the decision was final.
But in a press release issued Friday at 3:06 p.m., the district announced that Superintendent Dr. Maria Su, the San Francisco Board of Education, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond had secured enough funding to cancel the final layoff notices.
“This is thanks to the hard work and collaboration with the state and our labor partners,” said Dr. Su. “We are thrilled to be able to restore essential positions that support our students and schools.”
The district also announced it will hire 77 additional teachers for the 2025–26 school year — in addition to the 162 teacher positions already approved by the state.
Bilingual school nearly lost lifeline
The reversal comes as a major relief to school communities like Buena Vista Horace Mann (BVHM), a bilingual community school in the Mission District where paraeducators and counselors are central to both academic and emotional support.
“Paraeducators are one of the main reasons we’re able to support our students holistically,” said a family liaison who has worked at BVHM for over a decade. “We are one of the schools that provides emergency resources. If we find out that a student and their family are housing insecure, we can provide shelter for them.”
She described the impact of her work through one student’s story — a boy who arrived in the U.S. as a child and struggled with language. Years later, he returned to tell her: “It’s because of you I am where I am.” He now has a job and is thriving.
BVHM avoided layoffs this year in part due to Proposition G, a 2022 voter-approved measure that created a financial reserve to fund programs supporting student success. It helped preserve critical roles such as nurses, social workers, and family liaisons.
But the work of maintaining those programs — including bringing in outside therapists, coordinating after-hours support, and opening school gyms to unhoused families — falls heavily on paraeducators, counselors and volunteers.
It took roughly eleven years for BVH to build relationships and establish the programs they have now, and it still takes time and great energy to keep them running.
From protest to policy reversal
Teanna Tillery, vice president of paraeducators for the United Educators of San Francisco (UESF), credited the reversal to months of collective advocacy from paras, teachers and their communities. “Continued advocacy and fighting — it matters,” she said.
She pointed to the May 13 Board of Education meeting, where dozens of students, educators, and family members gave public testimony about the essential role paraeducators and counselors play in schools.
One of those listening was Elliott Duchon, the state-appointed fiscal advisor overseeing SFUSD since 2021. Duchon, who has the authority to reject district spending, met with HR officials in the days after the meeting and helped finalize the reversal.
Yet nine paraeducators remain laid off, and due to seniority rules, many others will be reassigned to different schools. “This is still a huge win right now,“ she said.
A controversial deal behind closed doors
Before the reversal, laid-off paraeducators and counselors were presented with a controversial offer: a two-month extension of health benefits — but only if every impacted employee agreed to waive their right to challenge the layoff in court.
An April 12 email from UESF outlined the terms: “The agreement is only effective if every impacted member agrees.”
The offer, negotiated during a closed-door Board of Education meeting on Feb. 22, was an all-or-nothing deal. According to union attorneys, the district had followed legal procedure in determining who would be laid off, making legal challenges unlikely to succeed. Faced with slim legal odds, the union prioritized securing healthcare — a compromise that left some members uneasy.
Asked why unanimous agreement was required, Tillery said the negotiations remain confidential. A labor attorney unaffiliated with the case confirmed the deal was legal, but said it was unusual for it to be contingent on every paraeducator signing.
Fiscal uncertainty looms for SFUSD
Superintendent Su recently presented SFUSD’s third interim budget, part of an effort to improve the district’s financial certification with the state. Her goal is to earn a “positive” rating by the end of the year — a necessary step to end California’s fiscal oversight, which began after the district’s stability rating was downgraded to “negative.”
While most school-based layoffs were rescinded, more than 200 central office employees still face termination. Over 300 staff members have already accepted early retirement as part of the district’s broader cost-saving plan.
For BVHM and schools like it, the preservation of paraeducator and counselor roles means far more than keeping staff employed — it means keeping a support system alive.
“They connect with students in ways that go beyond academics,” said the family liaison. “Without them, a school becomes less of a community — and more of a cold obligation.”
Board of Education President Phil Kim emphasized that financial caution is still needed. “This moves us closer to fiscal solvency while staying true to our educational mission,” he said. “We are committed to long-term financial stability so our focus can remain on improving student outcomes in third-grade literacy, eighth-grade math, and college and career readiness.”
