|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The Pleasanton Unified School District Board of Trustees will be continuing its budget cut discussion Thursday with a special meeting that aims to finalize a prioritized list of potential budget reductions.
According to the Nov. 6 staff report, the trustees will look to find common ground on what items the district should cut or make reductions from its 2026-27 budget.
“Staff will provide additional information requested at the Oct. 30 meeting and facilitate board discussion to identify areas of agreement,” the staff report states.
Before the meeting, a group of Pleasanton families plan to hold a protest at 4:30 p.m. outside of the district offices on West Las Positas. In a press release, the group facilitating the protest said they would like PUSD to reevaluate the proposed reductions so that the cuts don’t disproportionately burden elementary schools and classrooms in general.
Last month, the school board held multiple budget workshops and public hearings to discuss the upcoming cuts and reductions. According to the district, the budget reductions are needed to address a projected $9 million budget deficit that is set to start next year.
The district has blamed the structural deficit on several factors including declining enrollment, expiration of one time state funds, low state funding and rising costs for compensation, insurance, healthcare and special education services.
That deficit, combined with a $3.5 million variance from last fiscal year’s budget that pushed the district’s reserves below the state’s minimum 3%, has left the district in a position where it has to make millions of dollars worth of cuts to next year’s budget. According to the district’s budget frequently asked questions document, the $3.5 million variance was caused due to the 2024-25 budget not including recurring expenditures for non-salaried positions and due to other factors like higher special education costs and a 1% increase in the salary schedule.
“Maintaining fiscal solvency is essential to retain local control over our schools and operations and to ensure that the district — not the State — continues to make decisions for our students, staff, and community,” according to a PUSD newsletter Wednesday.
The in-depth budget discussions kicked off on Oct. 16 with the school board reviewing the ongoing structural deficit, a 2026-27 Budget Reduction Analysis Tool and a preliminary list of potential budget reductions that totaled about $13.5 million in cuts.
This followed an Oct. 2 board workshop and input from the Budget Advisory Committee and past community town halls that were held in September as a way to get input from staff and members of the public.
Then, during its Oct. 23 regular board meeting, the trustees continued the budget reduction discussion by reviewing the district’s updated reductions list, which — after staff found additional items to cut from the district’s budget — totaled about $15 million in potential cuts.
Staff continued to answer questions from the board and also provided an overview of the district’s fiscal challenges, funding structure and revenue assumptions along with information on outlining the minimum and maximum reduction ranges needed to achieve a balanced budget through 2027-28.
“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,” according to the staff report.
The school board continued its budget discussions last week during the Oct. 30 special board meeting where staff provided a reduction range between $10 million and $15 million, according to the Oct. 30 presentation.
During last week’s meeting, the board reviewed the summary of individual trustees’ weighting data regarding the proposed list of potential reductions and began working toward a consensus list of reductions by using the Budget Reductions Analysis Tool.
“In preparation for the meeting, each trustee had individually evaluated and weighted potential reduction options using the board’s established decision-making criteria — compliance, goal alignment, and student program impact,” according to the PUSD newsletter on Wednesday. “During the meeting, trustees reviewed a summary of those individual results, discussed areas of alignment, and began developing a Consensus Weighting list.”
According to the Summary Trustee Weighting sheet from Oct. 30, there seems to be consensus from the trustees regarding district and site administrator cuts but less consensus when it comes to cuts that directly impact elementary, middle and high school programs and staff positions.
District staff will now return on Thursday with additional follow-up information requested by the board as trustees seek to finalize a prioritized list of potential reductions from the larger set of options that have been under review.
The board’s special meeting is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Thursday (Nov. 6). Read the full agenda here.
