URGENT Member Update -- May 12, 2026

CPAA Union Family:

This morning, CPAA participated in the District’s budget briefing with other labor partners. We were disappointed to learn that approximately 120 assistant principal positions have been removed from foundational staffing in the upcoming budget. The District determined that schools with fewer than 250 students will no longer receive district-funded assistant principal positions. For CPAA, this is unacceptable.

This possibility was one of the reasons CPAA convened an in-person assistant principal meeting two weeks ago. As concerns began to surface, we wanted to be prepared with strategy should this, or some version of it, become reality. During that meeting, Principal James Cosme said what many in the room were already feeling: “We have to support our assistant principals the way CPAA supports us.”

While CPAA does not control District budget decisions, we absolutely will respond through every avenue available to us, including Board advocacy, collective bargaining, direct member support, and District conversations.

Assistant principals are foundational. Schools who serve fewer students are no less deserving of leadership. Assistant principals are critical to student success.

What Members Need to Know: 

1. This is serious. But it is not final.

  • The budget has been released, but it still must be approved by the Board of Education.

  • President Banks will urge the Board to reject this portion of the budget.

  • CPAA also remains actively at the bargaining table, where long-term staffing protections are still being fought for.

2. This is exactly why we need our comprehensive Collective Bargaining Agreement

  • A comprehensive collective bargaining agreement is about enforceable protections for school leaders.

  • Without those protections, positions can be redefined, removed, or shifted whenever District priorities change.

3. If your school is impacted:

  • Do not assume this decision is settled.

  • Do not make reactive AP liquidation decisions without understanding the broader implications.

  • Contact CPAA so we can help you think through options and strategy.

We need everyone to understand that individual staffing decisions made under pressure can quickly become part of a larger District narrative.

If you know an AP who is not yet a dues-paying member, encourage them to join now.

There is too much on the line for school leaders to sit on the sidelines. 

  • This fight is about assistant principals. 

  • This fight is about principals. 

  • This fight is about school leadership protections.

CPAA Treasurer, Principal Ryan Belville, reminded us, this is one of those times when, “… we must balance the immediate needs of our individual schools with the long-term protections that our union is fighting for.” Solidarity is about recognizing that the decisions made for individual buildings shape outcomes for all of us. 

One Union. One Voice. One Direction.