Peralta’s classified employee union protested a recent budget proposal during the public comment portion of the Feb. 11 Board of Trustees meeting.

Armed with purple signs and heartfelt comments, a small crowd of classified employees filled the Peralta Community College District boardroom to oppose the elimination of 33 classified positions.

“These cuts are completely unacceptable and our members will not stand for it,” said Richard Thoele, chapter president of Service Employees International Union Local 1021, which represents classified staff at Peralta.

The cuts come amidst a dire financial crisis for Peralta, which officials called attention to during a virtual town hall earlier this month.

Under the proposal, 68 positions would be eliminated, including 24 vacant positions. The district could also axe 20 administrative jobs and eight stationary engineer positions.

The hearing took place during a regular meeting of the Peralta’s Board of Trustees.

‘We must act now’

Before the hearing, Peralta Chancellor Tammeil Gilkerson addressed the room. Her voice shook as she commented on the difficult decisions ahead.

Since 2020-21, the district has cut a total of $27 million from its budget. Now in the face of another $11 million deficit, Gilkerson called the reductions in force a “survival strategy,” stating, “we must act now.”

“If we only work to preserve our current structure, we will continue to cut until we have nothing left,” she said. “Instead, we must revitalize, attract new students and forge new partnerships.”

She expressed hope that the district will be able to “reimagine” its future in a way that centers equity, social justice, and closing academic “opportunity gaps.”

“If we allow external forces to dictate our future, we risk losing the ability to infuse our values into a long-term plan. We risk erasing the history that has made Peralta a home for generations of students and employees,” Gilkerson said.

‘You’re turning away students’

As public comments commenced, members of SEIU Local 1021 stood up from their seats with protest signs, showing unity in their message against layoffs for classified positions.

Classified staff represent a broad category of employees at Peralta that includes “all the folks who keep the colleges running who aren’t instructors,” according to Alejandro Acosta, who is Chief Steward for the union chapter.

“We’re the lab assistants, custodians, cashiers, clerical staff, etc, who keep the colleges clean and open for students, support instructors in technical roles, handle enrollment services, help students navigate financial aid, and process employee and student worker payroll,” Acosta explained.

At the hearing, members of SEIU struggled to hold back tears as they asked the board to find another way to relieve budget strains. A total of 11 public comments were made during the hearing.

“We’re the backbone to make this college function,” said Lily Leung, a library technician at Laney College. “Without the classified employees, the students won’t be able to succeed.”

Thoele, the union’s chapter president, expressed that classified staff “get the students into the classrooms.”

“When you propose cuts to these positions, you’re turning away students,” Thoele claimed.

Tina Tobor, Senior Admissions and Records Specialist at Laney College, started as an hourly staff member and worked her way up to a full time position. “We are on the front lines,” she said. ”When students have issues, they come to us, not managers.”

She contended that “a real conversation” about the actions that led to this moment is needed, “or else we’ll continue to have this cycle and classified will continue to bear the brunt of this,” Tobor said.

Terrence Fisher, the Vice President of Peralta Classified Senate, asked the board to consider the consequences of the layoffs. A lot of classified staff, he said, already do not make a living wage and “receive supplemental incomes” to support their families.

“Many individuals are already just one step away from homelessness,” Fisher remarked.

Jeff Sanceri, President of the Peralta Federation of Teachers called the layoffs “preventable.”

“Faculty have been consistently communicating with the board over the last seven years,” Sanceri asserted, “and what we’ve consistently said is cutting classes […] and not investing in our students will start a downward spiral that can only result in dramatic and even unthinkable actions, and here we are now.”

When asked about the consideration of alternative solutions like closing a college or eliminating redundancies, Peralta’s Board President Louis Quindlen maintained that those decisions will happen in collaboration with the unions and governing bodies representing faculty and classifieds.

“We can’t succeed if it’s just administration saying, ‘we’re doing this and this and this,’” Quindlen said. “To recover from a situation like this, you need everybody on board.”

In response to the classified staff protests, he stated, “there’s going to be pain and there’s going to be people upset,” but that “we are trying to deal with that in the most humane way possible and still move forward.”

District reduces reserve funds to help balance budget

Members of SEIU left after public comments closed, leaving sparse attendance for a subsequent presentation on a new proposal for the district’s reserve funds.

Chief Operating Officer, Greg Nelson, suggested that the district use $13 million from the reserve fund to cover four obligations at the district: $6 million in retirement benefits, $4 million in vacation payouts for classified professionals, and $3 million in resignation incentives.

Reserve funds are used to pay for unanticipated expenses or benefits and salaries in case of fiscal emergencies.

Peralta used to keep a minimum of 10% of their operating budget in reserves —roughly five weeks of expenses. However, trustees voted in 2023-24 to raise the reserve level to 16.67%, or two months’ expenses, to stay in line with new state recommendations.

To help alleviate current and future budget woes, Nelson argued in favor of lowering the reserve target to 8%, or one month of expenses.

This would offer the district greater flexibility to strategically plan for long-term decisions, Nelson stated.

The new reserve limit passed with six out of seven trustees voting in favor.

Trustee Sheweet Yohannes, the sole dissenting vote, felt she “needed more time, more information,” in order to make a conclusive decision due to her recent absences. She shared that her absences were due to her being “in Ethiopia visiting family” which has been impacted by conflict in recent years.

Yohannes, who called in from Washington, D.C., was one of three trustees who attended the meeting remotely. Trustee Dyana Delfín Polk also called from Washington, D.C., and Trustee Nicky González Yuen attended from Canada.

Correction: This article was updated on 2/20/2025 to correct the title of Terrence Fisher. The original article erroneously identified Fisher as the former Vice President of the Peralta Classified Senate. He currently serves in the role, though he formerly served as President.