MESA, AZ — On Tuesday night, the Mesa Public Schools Governing Board voted to eliminate 42 certified staff positions to save money amid declining enrollment.
More than half of positions cut include counselors and social workers. The other positions include language, music and physical education teachers.
“It’s going to be an impact to our campuses. So it’s a loss, a loss is a loss,” Mesa Education Association President Kelly Berg said. “It appears the preference is to keep the classroom teachers intact so we can still service our students and our families and our community. It’s just, we’ll be asked to do more because there will be less support behind us.”
Board members expressed their grief in reducing positions.
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“We just don’t have the funds to do it and it really pains me to vote on so many counselors from the high school level to the elementary level,” Board Member Marcie Hutchinson said. “They have been incredibly valuable in helping us recover from COVID and facing the situations that we have in our society today so I do want to thank them for their service to Mesa.”
Mesa Public Schools student enrollment declined by roughly 1,500 students for this school year. Another decline of 1,800 students is expected for next school year.
The district cited the declining enrollment numbers, increasing healthcare costs and other factors for a multi-million-dollar budget deficit.
In total, 147 district-level positions will be eliminated, although not all may be currently filled. Meanwhile, roughly 100 certified staff will be transferred to other schools.
