The Pleasanton Unified School District Board of Trustees will continue to discuss future budget cuts and reductions during its upcoming special meeting Thursday, where trustees will provide staff with further input on the proposed list of reductions.
After the in-depth budget workshop last week, the board’s session Thursday evening will lead into a meeting next week to deliver their final feedback.
“At this meeting, trustees will review a summary of the weighting data, work to identify preliminary areas of consensus and provide further direction to staff ahead of the November 6 special meeting,” the district stated in a newsletter on Wednesday.
Thursday’s meeting continues a series of recent discussions where the board has been reviewing the district’s fiscal challenges — including declining enrollment and deficit spending projections — and discussing a long list of potential budget reductions that currently total about $13.5 million in savings for the 2026-27 district budget.
During its Oct. 16 special board meeting, trustees conducted an in-depth review of the district’s ongoing financial challenges, refined its budget reduction analysis tool and provided staff with initial input on the preliminary list of cuts.
Prior to that meeting, the board had conducted another budget workshop and the district incorporated that input, along with input from PUSD’s Budget Advisory Committee and input from the public and staff obtained during community town halls in September, to develop the list of proposed cuts.
According to the 2026-27 reduction options list, some of the proposed cuts include reductions in work days for district office staff and administrators, cuts to elective courses, and the phasing out of programs such as the elementary school outdoor education program.
The following positions would also be on the chopping block if they are not ruled out by the board: elementary school vice principals, high school coordinators of operations, middle school and high school secretaries, health service assistants at all grade levels and various types of specialists in science and physical education.
During the regular board meeting Oct. 23, the board continued the budget discussions initiated at the Oct. 16 workshop and reviewed additional information provided to the board, such as details on the district’s financial status and information on additional cuts identified by staff regarding district office positions and administrative positions.
“Staff provided an overview of the district’s fiscal challenges, funding structure and revenue assumptions, along with a refined presentation outlining the minimum and maximum reduction ranges needed to achieve a balanced budget through 2027–28,” according to the Oct. 30 staff report.
According to the staff’s presentation during the Oct. 23 meeting that the reductions range should be a minimum of $10 million and a maximum of $15 million.
“Trustees received updated reduction options, clarified information on estimated savings and potential impacts and were provided instructions for applying individual weighting criteria to the reduction items ahead of the next workshop,” the Oct. 30 staff report states.
Now, the board will reconvene to continue its in-depth review and discussion and focus on going over the trustees data regarding their prioritization of items that they ranked from most impactful to least impactful to the district.
“The goal of this meeting is to identify preliminary areas of consensus and provide further direction to staff in preparation for the November 6, 2025 Special Board Meeting,” according to Thursday’s staff report.
The board’s open-session meeting is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Thursday (Oct. 30). Read the full agenda here.
