The Budget Deficit

The Hayward Unified School District (HUSD), is facing a fallout of a $55 million budget deficit. Hayward High, a thriving academic community, is now just one of the flagship schools in our district navigating layoffs, possibly overburdened classrooms, and potentially dwindling student resources—leaving teachers, students, and families concerned.

Teachers Overwhelmed, Resources Stripped

In response to the shortfall, HUSD has been forced to eliminate up to 107 full-time positions district wide. This includes classroom teachers, aides, and essential support staff. At Hayward High, the impact is being felt noticeably.

Principal Waylon Miller acknowledged the difficult choices being made. “Try to make sure that we mitigate it so that the cuts are not going to affect the students as much as possible,” he said. But he admitted, “When you’re talking about 34–55 million dollars, it’s hard to keep those things from getting to the student level.”

Assistant Principal Laura Guajardo described the atmosphere as tense. “The budget cuts have left a very unsteady, unsure feeling amongst the staff both here at Hayward High and throughout the district,” she said. “We are like a big family, and so when part of your family leaves, it leaves a big hole.”

Beyond the emotional toll, she noted the practical strain as well. “I had a meeting with the building maintenance people. There’s like a water leak in one of the buildings that needs to be fixed… but the district is not approving it because of the budget cuts.” She warned, “In the long run there’s going to be problems and it’s going to take more to fix.”

Students Losing More Than Lessons

Campus safety has also been hit hard. Officer “Robo” voiced concern: “It’s important to have adequate amount of campus safety to maintain the level of safety acquired.” With fewer staff to patrol a large campus, “the danger becomes more for the students and the harder for staff to keep everyone s

Ms. Jeesica’s, a security staff member, shared how her job stress has reached home: “Not having a job puts stress on my family.” She added, “It has affected me emotionally because I really do care about the students here.” She emphasized how layoffs in her department risk the safety of young women on campus: “No female security will affect female students not having someone in that department that they know and can trust.”

LJ, another security staff member,  expressed the same frustration: “We are losing some of our valuable people in the campus and I think it is not going to affect me as much as it is going to affect the kids.” He didn’t mince words about the toll it’s taking: “Emotionally, it sucks. I love you guys!”

Voices from the Classroom

Teachers who have recently started working for a short period of time might get a pink slip, a potential notice of lay-off or non-renewal for teachers.

Mr. Liping, a government teacher, reflected on how the layoffs ripple through every aspect of education. “There are a couple of things that are going to affect everyone,” he said. “It’s stressful to new teachers who are entering a new stressful kind of job.” With pink slips going out to less senior teachers, “It keeps people away from wanting to become teachers.”

He pointed out that class sizes are directly affected. “Let’s face it, you are going to do a lot worse in a class that has 35 people in it than a class that has 27 or 28… it’s just simple numbers… you have less teacher time.” He shared how the cuts are changing the student experience in his own classroom. “If it wasn’t for budget cuts I would have four sections of AP Government… Now I’m going to have three sections… and they told 12 people that they couldn’t sign up for my class.”

Mrs. Hebert, a longtime teacher at Hayward High, recalled how pink slips were once a regular occurrence. “When I first started to work here it was a yearly thing that people got pink slipped even if you got rehired,” she said. “So I am kind of used to that happening.” Still, she expressed concern for her colleagues. “You feel bad when, especially a good teacher, gets laid off.”

She acknowledged some pandemic-era roles were always meant to be temporary, but that doesn’t make the losses any easier. “Those positions are going away, but I think that is fine, there are a lot of them that were supposed to be here for a few years anyway.”

Mrs. Walsh, another longtime teacher and Mathematics department chair, explained how the cuts are impacting employment and resources. “Anyone who was a temporary teacher… has been swept out for next year,” she said. “They might hire some back depending on openings.” Declining enrollment is part of the problem. “If there’s a reduction of numbers at your site, teachers may have to leave the site.” She also expresses how it affects budget cuts, “Part of the budget deficit is caused by declining enrollment.” 

She added, “It is also impacting finances here like copying, support apps, everything next year… we’re going to be on a minimal budget.” On how this compares to the past: “Nothing like this.” As for class sizes, “They are going to be bigger so students don’t get the kind of attention they have this year. It’s gonna be a lot rougher that way.”

She expressed appreciation that sports were preserved. “That meets the needs of about a third of our student body,” she said. But her outlook was sobering: “I think that this is not the only year we are going to have cuts. I think we are going to have cuts in the following year.”

A Coach’s Perspective

Coach Alex is staying at Hayward High, but he sees the toll these changes are taking on both staff and student-athletes. “My position will remain at Hayward High School. Unfortunately, some teachers and staff members are losing their jobs… We are losing quality teachers.”

He fears it may push families away. “Students might choose to go elsewhere coming out of middle school because they can get a different experience, they can get more funding and resources at another school compared to Hayward High School.”

Athletics are feeling the strain. “We already have to fundraise a lot of money right now. For football we already raise over $30,000 alone and that is still not a lot of money,” he said. “It doesn’t pay all of our bills and we don’t even pay the coaches.” With budget uncertainty, he added, “We are not sure if we’re going to have buses to games or buses back home or buses for all levels.”

Coach Parsad echoed the challenge. “We’re going to have to streamline equipment… and fundraise or seek donations to offset some of that cost,” he said. He acknowledged that while the district tried to preserve athletics overall, “cuts still meant reducing coaching stipends and asking some staff to volunteer.”

Despite the challenges, Coach Alex remains committed. “We are just going to have to ride the wave as they say and be creative. This isn’t something we are not unfamiliar with… we just have to stick it through and overcome adversity again.”

Bigger Classes, Fewer Options

English teacher and English and language art department teacher, Mr. Schenkelberg, pointed out how these decisions are already reshaping academic offerings. “There are less classes available for students than we would want and the existing classes will be more full.” He added, “Larger class sizes mean more work for teachers… more things I need to grade and more students I have to oversee and manage.”

He appreciated the efforts of the principal to retain staff: “Mr. Miller has worked really hard to make sure every teacher has a job for the most part.” But for younger staff, the risk of job loss still lingers. “New teachers are more in danger of losing their job,” he said.

As an assistant coach for badminton, he expressed gratitude that athletics remain a priority. “The district and Mr. Miller have both committed to making sure our athletic programs won’t be directly hit by cuts.”

Still, the path forward remains difficult. “Budget cuts are kind of a big topic that’s hard to see all the different ways it’s going to affect us,” he said. “We are going to try really hard to make sure we’re still doing our job as best as we can for students… hopefully we can minimize the effect.”

Looking Ahead

As Hayward High navigates the turbulence of a $55 million deficit, the resilience of its staff, students, and community remains clear. Though the road ahead is uncertain and the sacrifices are real, there is a shared commitment to protect what matters most; the students. In the face of adversity, Hayward High is striving not just to endure, but to stand together.