The Contra Costa Community College District voted to lay off nine classified positions across Contra Costa College and Diablo Valley College last Friday in an emergency meeting held after the regular board meeting last week.

The decision is part of an effort to close a budget gap the district is facing, and it follows the elimination of three management position and two tenured faculty positions.

“This decision comes at a particularly difficult time for our classified professionals,” said Contra Costa College President Kimberly Rogers in an email to staff Monday, obtained by The Advocate. “The individuals affected have served the District with dedication and commitment for years. The resulting impacts—including bumping rights, potential reassignment, and changes in work locations—have created significant uncertainty and distress for valued members of our community.”

The vote was 3-1, with John Marquez, Diana Honig and Andy Li voting yes. Rebecca Barrett abstained, and Fernando Sandoval was absent from the meeting.

Of the positions eliminated by the board, five of them – including one part-time position – were Contra Costa College positions. Four of them were from Diablo Valley College.

They include:

• One full-time academic scheduling specialist at CCC
• One full-time instructional assistant in the Counseling department at CCC
• One full-time program assistant in the Welcome Center and Outreach department at CCC
• One full-time program coordinator in the Dramatic Arts at CCC
• One half-time office assistant in CCC’s Fine and Media Arts department
• One full-time instructional assistant in Culinary Arts at DVC
• One full-time administrative assistant at DVC’s Admissions and Records Office
• One full-time program assistant for DVC’s TRIO Programs (which help high school students prepare for college)
• One full-time program coordinator for DVC’s TRIO Programs

Dozens of people – including staff and their supporters – lined up and packed the room at the district’s headquarters in Martinez to describe their concerns and frustrations to the Governing Board members.

“Your repeated votes to cut these positions – positions held by dedicated individuals who directly support students, faculty and the daily operations of our campuses reflect not only poor judgment, but, frankly, an act of cowardice,” said Michael Simpson, the site vice president at Los Medanos College for Local 1, the union that represents classified staff across the district. “Eliminating the very workforce that makes our college functional is not courageous leadership. It is avoidance.”

District leadership has said layoffs are necessary to fix the budget gap.

In an early March email, Chancellor Mojdeh Mehdizadeh attributed the budget deficit to a lack of cost-of-living adjustment increases or new state revenue in recent years under the “Student-Centered Funding Formula,” as well as the loss of federal funding and grants.

“After many conversations, budget reviews and forecasts, our colleges and the District Office have taken steps to manage vacancies and to reorganize in places where feasible,” Mehdizadeh said. “Unfortunately, we are still required to take further steps to eliminate some classified, faculty, and management positions, effective June 30, 2026.”

The special meeting came after the board failed to pass the original resolution at its regular monthly meeting last Wednesday.

At that meeting, there was a proposal to cut 10 positions, including a program coordinator for undocumented students at CCC.

But many students and staff spoke out at the meeting against the layoffs, including that position.

“Two years ago, I was standing in front of the board, speaking on the importance of our undocumented students program at Contra Costa College,” said Osmara Velazquez, president of CCC student club Concilio de la Comunidad. Now, she said, “I’m extremely disappointed that as a Hispanic-serving institution, you would consider taking apart our undocumented students program.”

In an early March email, Rogers – the CCC president – said support would continue for undocumented students.

“Beginning July 1, CCC will introduce a Senior Program Coordinator for International, Nonresident, and Undocumented Students. That person will help lead and coordinate services in both English and Spanish,” Rogers’ email said. “This office will assume and expand the work previously carried out by the Undocumented Student Program Coordinator Position.”

It’s unclear if these services will happen now that the position was not eliminated.

Governing Board members Li and Honig approved that proposal to cut the 10 positions, but Marquez and Barrett abstained. With Sandoval absent, the motion failed.

Student Trustee Sophie Khouri said the outcome was unusual.

“In my ten months on the board, no item has ever failed until this,” Khouri wrote in an email, referring to the initial vote.

Khouri said the layoffs raised concerns about how the decision could affect students.

“Classified professionals are the staff who run services across the campus,” she said. “They are on the frontlines of ensuring students succeed.” She added that “cutting these positions puts a lot of these services at risk of not being able to adequately meet students’ needs.”

Khouri also criticized how the issue was communicated to students ahead of the board vote.

“Students weren’t aware of employee layoffs, nor were they consulted in the process,” she said, adding that emails and social media posts describing the changes as an expansion of services were “very misleading.”

She also questioned aspects of the meeting process, writing that “people can’t make public comments on Zoom, yet a trustee can vote through Zoom, which I consider to be unfair.”

Rogers, the CCC President, declined to comment at the meeting on the potential impact of the decision on students. The Advocate asked Rogers twice during the meeting to respond to concerns about how the layoffs might affect campus services.

Before the vote, Rogers said, “Let’s see what happens after the vote.” After the board approved the resolution, she declined to comment again, saying she would address the issue next week.

In an email sent to employees on Monday obtained by The Advocate, Rogers said, “we will share additional information outlining how the college will maintain services in the areas impacted by these position eliminations.”

Many employees may be affected by the layoffs. According to an email sent to district staff from Mehdizadeh, more than 100 employees may get notices that they could be laid off:

“However, under state law and our collective bargaining agreements, the first step in this process requires the District to issue formal notifications—often referred to as ‘March 15 Notices’. These notices must be sent not only to employees whose positions are being eliminated, but also to employees who could be affected through the bumping process. Under the California Education Code and the Local 1 Collective Bargaining Agreement, classified employees who are affected by layoffs have the right to displace or “bump” a less senior employee working in the same job classification (or in some cases, less senior employees working in lower classifications that the employee held previously). In the current situation, this means that 118 employees districtwide may be impacted and will receive March 15 notifications.”

Jeanie Smith, president of 4CD Local 1, said at Friday’s meeting that eliminating classified positions would place additional pressure on already limited campus services.

“When you have less staff, you have less time to spend with students making sure their needs are met,” she said. “When theres cuts, somebody has to pick up the work, and that means the remaining staff is picking up additional work.”