Trustee Lehman’s May 11 Office Hours: Cuts consequences and the LCAP vote
Field Notes: Trustee Lehman's Office Hours, May 11, 2026
On Monday, May 11, Sonoma Schools Alliance attended Trustee Jason Lehman's office hours. An El Verano Elementary instructional aide also attended and spoke at length about how the district's staffing cuts are landing on the people who do direct work with students. What follows is a record of what was raised and how Lehman responded.
The elimination of the Wellness and Inclusion position
The instructional aide asked how the district will manage the responsibilities previously handled by Jillian Beall, now that her position has been eliminated. Lehman said her duties would be absorbed by other district office staff who already hold positions, and that the position was deemed eliminable because Beall was not "student facing."
When the aide expressed concern about losing those services, noting the difference Beall made for the students she worked with, Lehman offered sympathy but provided no substantive plan for how the duties would actually be covered. The elimination is expected to lower costs at the district office level.
Reduced hours and the impact on newcomer services
The instructional aide explained that her position is being substantially cut. She currently works a full six-hour day at El Verano. The district is considering splitting her assignment across two sites, with reduced hours at each, which she said is insufficient given her responsibilities.
She serves as the point person for newcomer students. With her hours reduced, she cannot adequately manage the preparation work required before students arrive. She works with two groups of newcomers between first and fifth grade, implements LCAP testing that takes up to a month annually, facilitates classroom testing, and serves on the LCAP implementation team. There is no curriculum in place for newcomer students, and with her hours cut, those students effectively have no support.
She is also the only instructional aide in the district who prepares the lesson plans for the students she works with. For other instructional aides, the assigned teachers do that preparation work. By planning the material herself, she takes that burden off teachers rather than a teacher carrying it for her, a capacity that comes from decades in the position. It is one more reason the role is highly valuable, and one more reason the cut is shortsighted.
She also noted that 50 % of the district's bilingual instructors have been eliminated. Her position was that cuts should be made across the district office rather than at direct service positions, and that eliminating the most senior staff runs contrary to standard practice, which calls for protecting institutional knowledge.
The aide requested one additional hour to adequately perform her duties, and she requested a formal hearing on the matter. The district's Director of Human Resources, Kristen Ugrin, told her not to pursue a hearing, saying it would cost the district money. That statement was inappropriate and discouraged her from exercising her procedural rights. Lehman promised to follow up on her hour request with the superintendent but offered no timeline or commitment.
Seniority, and who is responsible for the cuts
The instructional aide pointed out that the district is cutting positions held by staff with the longest tenure, contrary to the standard practice of protecting senior staff and the institutional knowledge they carry.
Sonoma Schools Alliance noted that seniority-based pink slips are board-approved actions, which makes board responsibility clear. When Lehman attempted to attribute all of the cuts to Superintendent Sutter, Sonoma Schools Alliance interrupted to clarify that the board is the ultimate decision maker and the fiduciary authority for district budget decisions. The board's votes on the resolutions approving the cuts are matters of public record. Lehman's attempt to distance the board from responsibility was contradicted by his own voting record.
Other staffing changes
At the district office, new positions include a new human resources hire and a replacement position. Dr. Esmeralda Sanchez Mosley is replacing Christina Casillas as Director of Education Services.
On special education, state mandates require service plans for special education students. Teachers develop the plans, but instructional assistants implement them. With cuts to instructional assistants, questions remain about how the district will meet its legal mandates with reduced staff.
Trustee Lehman's conduct
Lehman's tone during the meeting was notably conciliatory and sympathetic, in contrast to his voting pattern on these cuts. He made multiple statements expressing concern and offering to advocate for staff positions, including offering to have the superintendent observe the instructional aide's work to demonstrate her value. These gestures are hollow given his board votes supporting the very eliminations being discussed.
When the instructional aide asked directly what the district is doing well, Lehman said, several things but failed to offer a specific example for any of them. On May 4, 2026, the board voted unanimously to approve the 2026-27 staffing reductions, a final action that followed its preliminary layoff vote on February 12. Lehman voted in favor. His language and delivery have changed to appear more sympathetic, but his actions have not.
The pattern
Board members appear to be modifying their language and demeanor in response to public accountability pressure, but these changes in presentation do not alter the substance of the decisions being made. The pattern continues to be cuts to frontline services, consolidation of staffing and authority at the district office, and the deflection of responsibility by individual board members onto the superintendent. The votes are on the record. The responsibility is the board's.
Documented by Leigh Cavalier, Sonoma Schools Alliance, May 2026
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