About 200 classified employees and 59 certificated employees are being reassigned or placed into a benefited position within the district, according to district officials.
"So, at a total count of 263 notices, we have already rescinded over 35 notices," said Annarita Howell, assistant superintendent of human resources for Fresno Unified.
District leaders described the process as "bumping," in which employees are moved into other roles to prevent layoffs.
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Those changes can include shifts to different classifications, departments or pay scales.
"Once you go through the bumping process and there's no longer an open position, or they're not senior enough to a position, where they would bump somebody out, at that point a true layoff is what happens," said David Chavez, the district's chief of human resources.
Some employees have also chosen to voluntarily take lower positions, officials said.
"There are a lot of people who are family-oriented, and they want to make sure they have that work-life balance. So they opted to drop from 261 to 239 or 215," Howell said.
Union leaders said the decisions are difficult, particularly for those who work closely with students.
"Putting people that are working with our students on a day-to-day basis in this tremendously tough decision," said Manuel Bonilla of the Fresno Teachers Association.
District officials cited a steady enrollment decline since the COVID-19 pandemic as a key factor driving staffing changes.
"We've lost between 1,000 and 1,500 kids every year since the pandemic hit. And it looks with projections that it's going to carry on till at least 2030," Howell said.
Fresno Unified leaders said the trend is not unique, pointing to other large districts facing similar challenges.
"You'll see the same issues occurring at in San Francisco, Sacramento, LA Unified, San Diego, and all urban districts are in a similar place with declining enrollment and the budgetary challenges," said Patrick Jensen, the district's chief financial officer.
The district said the impact on students remains unclear. Chavez noted that campuses are feeling the effects for the first time in several years.
"This is actually the first year out of the last three or four years that we're impacting school sites," he said.
Officials also said they are not ruling out potential school closures in the future, though any decision would involve public input.
"We would push back against any school closures, any school closures has a tremendous negative impact to the communities that that school serves," Bonilla said.
District leaders said if closures are considered, the process would include engagement with the community before any final decisions are made.
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