Fresno Unified may cut counselors amid budget deficit concerns

Fresno Unified is weighing a post-COVID rollback of school mental health staffing, proposing to remove 27 employees who work directly with students, including seven counselors and 14 child welfare and attendance specialists, even as it adds 12 other student-facing mental health roles, among them three behavior intervention specialists.

The numbers show how quickly the district expanded support after the pandemic. From 2020 to 2025, Fresno Unified’s mental health staffing climbed from 345 to 531 professionals, a 53% increase. Counselor staffing rose from 102 to 161, a 57% jump. Social worker staffing increased by 72 percent, and school psychologist staffing grew by 40 percent, reflecting a broad push to meet student needs in classrooms, on campuses and in crisis situations.

Now that investment is colliding with a projected $88 million budget deficit. District officials say the gap is being driven by higher special education fill rates and rising transportation costs. Layoff decisions are not final yet, and staff reductions would not be locked in until the board approves next year’s fiscal budget. For parents, school leaders and families who have come to rely on mental health teams for attendance issues, discipline problems and crisis prevention, the proposal signals that the district is trying to close its books by trimming supports that many now see as essential.

The stakes in Fresno are part of a larger California shift. State and federal recovery dollars helped districts hire more counselors, psychologists and social workers after COVID, and Gov. Gavin Newsom used McLane High School in Fresno in 2021 to announce a $4.7 billion youth mental health initiative. At the time, California set a goal of training 40,000 more behavioral health professionals, underscoring how central school-based mental health had become to the state’s post-pandemic recovery plan.

Fresno Unified has already moved through one of the biggest staffing expansions in the region. In 2022, the district was considering $38 million for mental health resources and staffing, including 10 additional clinical social workers for foster and unhoused youth and a new high school counselor. Three years later, the conversation has shifted from expansion to retrenchment, with the future of school-based mental health now tied directly to the district’s effort to balance its budget.