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The Pleasanton Unified School District published its list of potential budget cut options for the 2026-27 fiscal year Wednesday evening, which includes dozens of proposed cuts across many departments that total over $13 million in savings.
Some of the proposed budget cuts include reducing district management and school site management work years; phasing out positions like some assistants and certain specialists; reducing the number of custodians primarily at elementary schools; and reducing the number of high school counselors.
Other proposed reductions include cutting the number of professional development days for certified staff, phasing out educational degree stipends and phasing out the elementary school Outdoor Education Program.
According to the preliminary list, the district has identified roughly $13.4 million in potential savings. Those savings, if they were all approved, could translate in impacts to roughly 77 full-time equivalent employee positions.
The Board of Trustees is set to review the list for the first time during Thursday’s special budget workshop and provide staff further direction on the budget reduction process, which will begin to ramp up even more during the next month and a half.
“We recognize that the work we are about to embark upon is very challenging as it impacts our most cherished resource, the employees of PUSD,” Superintendent Maurice Ghysels wrote in Thursday’s presentation. “We want to acknowledge that everyone in the organization is a valued member. As we move forward and discuss the difficult choices ahead, let us set an example to our students.”
PUSD is among many school districts in California that are facing structural deficits caused by “declining enrollment, rising operating costs, and the expiration of one-time state and federal funds,” according to the district.
According to the staff report, PUSD’s unrestricted expenditures exceeded the district’s revenues by $7.2 million during the 2024-25 fiscal year which, as a result, reduced the district’s reserves to 0.55% — well below the state’s 3% minimum reserve requirement.
And even though staff noted some improvements in the district’s year-end closing financial estimates, changes in non-positional salary costs and special education costs “underscored the need for stronger monitoring and earlier interventions.”
“The fundamental challenge remains: ongoing deficit spending that cannot be sustained through reserves or one-time resources,” according to the staff report.
That’s why the school board initiated a Budget Engagement & Realignment process that has included staff and community town halls and a sequence of special board workshops that all began earlier this month as a way to gather input from the community regarding future budget cuts and revenue-generating options.
The goal is to identify and approve a set of reduction and revenue strategies for the 2026-27 budget by Nov. 6.
At the Oct. 2 budget workshop, trustees upheld the district’s core values, laying the groundwork for upcoming challenging budget decisions. They explored various criteria for budget reduction options, such as compliance, student impact, equity, contract implications, and revenue impact. Staff were subsequently directed to condense these into three primary criteria.
During that same meeting, trustees also reviewed the district’s Budget Reductions Analysis Tool to “ensure each item includes estimated savings, student/program impact, mitigation opportunities, and trustee scoring aligned to the criteria.”
Now, during Thursday’s workshop, staff will return to the dais to present the initial list of potential budget reduction and revenue options for the 2026-27 fiscal year, which was developed using the framework and guidance provided by the board on Oct. 2.
“The presentation incorporates feedback from community engagement, (Budget Advisory Committee) meetings, and cabinet discussions conducted in September 2025, along with the refined criteria and analysis tool requested by the board,” according to the staff report.
Trustees will review and discuss these preliminary budget reduction and revenue options before providing staff with direction for refinement of the analysis tool prior to the Oct. 30 budget workshop where the board will weigh out and prioritize all of the different options.
The board’s special budget workshop is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Thursday (Oct. 16). To read the full agenda and view the full list of preliminary budget reductions, click here.
First, stop out of area conference travel.
Second, yes, make cuts to DO workdays.
Also, cut DO staff as they don’t teach and most of what they analyze isn’t important to anyone in a classroom, just to each other or in comparison to other districts.
Third, cut teaching & learning staff by half. That’s how it used to be done with a much larger student enrollment.