|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The Pleasanton Unified School District Board of Trustees will be discussing what budget reduction options, which were previously considered to have “the most significant impact” on students, should be part of a contingency plan to supplement other budget cuts that still have to be negotiated with labor unions during a special board meeting Thursday.
Some of the items that could be back on the chopping block include middle school secretary jobs, health service assistant positions, intervention specialists, library assistants and much more according to a 2026-27 reduction options document.
In addition to the contingency plan talks, the board will be voting on giving staff the green light to prepare a “2026/27 Reduction in Force (RIF) Resolution” and on approving the order of rehiring if certain layoffs are rescinded once those labor negotiations are finalized.
“Our Board of Trustees believe in an intentional, collaborative, and inclusive-decision making approach, consisting of not only of the PUSD Board, but our district leadership, our school administrative leadership staff, APT teachers, CSEA staff, non-represented workers, parent-teacher associations, families, and our community partners, and so many others, all devoted to transforming change for the benefit and success of our students,” Board President Kelly Mokashi said during the Feb. 12 board meeting.
The board began those budget discussions during last week’s meeting, which included reviewing the steps and work needed to prioritize the remaining budget reduction items that were previously left out due to them having the most impact on students.
“This approach requires all of us to partake in an intentional shift of power and decision making where each of us has a meaningful role in the functions and decisions of our school district, not just being a receiver of information,” Mokashi said. “It takes all of us. This will not be easy, but we will get through this.”
During the last half of 2025, PUSD held several meetings and workshops to discuss and identify roughly $11 million worth of budget cuts and reductions that would have the least impact on students and the rest of the school community.
These budget reductions are the latest over the last couple of years that the district has said are necessary to balance its budget, which is facing a structural deficit.
“PUSD is facing significant financial challenges driven by declining enrollment, rising costs, loss of pandemic-era funding, and comparatively low per-student revenue,” staff stated in the Feb. 19 special meeting agenda report. The per-student revenue refers to the state’s Local Control Funding Formula, which typically directs more money to less-affluent districts that serve more disadvantaged students.
“Despite more than $16 million in reductions and $4.3 million in new local revenue over the past two years, the district continues to experience structural deficit spending that has reduced reserves,” according to staff. “As a result, the 2026/27 First Interim Budget carries a Negative Certification, meaning the District may not meet its financial obligations without additional action.”
Kate Lane, a financial expert, confirmed PUSD financial challenges during last week’s Feb. 12 board meeting by affirming the district’s projections of a negative unrestricted fund balance and stating that “even with planned reductions, ongoing enrollment decline will require continued fiscal discipline”.
“Ms. Lane affirmed the significant work already underway but underscored the urgency of fully implementing the board’s approved reductions,” district staff stated in the Feb. 19 special board agenda report. “Ms. Lane also stressed the importance of rebuilding district reserves over time to restore fiscal resilience and provide a stronger financial safety net.”
Lane was appointed by the Alameda County Office of Education to help support the district’s continued work on stabilizing its finances in order for PUSD to maintain its local control over its budget, which Lane said is at risk.
“She further emphasized that if sufficient action is not taken locally, escalating levels of county and state fiscal oversight could occur, potentially limiting local control,” according to staff.
According to the report, if the county doesn’t see “sufficient progress in stabilizing our fiscal condition” it will appoint a fiscal adviser who would have “significant authority to override local decisions”.
“The next step beyond a Fiscal Advisor would be State receivership, which would remove local control until the District’s fiscal condition is restored,” according to staff. “Ms. Lane expressed that, based on current steps and follow-through on planned actions, PUSD should be able to avoid drastic actions.”
And while the district’s $11 million of identified budget cuts for the 2026-27 fiscal year significantly help its financial situation, about $5.4 million of those cuts require to be worked out with the district’s labor unions, which is why staff said in the meantime the district needs to identify additional reductions as part of a contingency plan.
“While negotiations with labor partners continue, the board must also prepare contingency plans to meet statutory timelines for preliminary layoff notices by March 15, 2026,” according to the district’s Feb. 18 e-newsletter. “As stated by trustees at multiple board meetings last fall and in recent weeks, this includes reviewing reduction options previously identified — but not moved forward — through the fall 2025 prioritization process, specifically those weighted ‘3’.”
Trustee Justin Brown was one of those who, during the Nov. 20 board meeting, cautioned that should the unions reject the negotiable items, the board would be forced to reconsider previously rejected cuts and possibly bring them back to the chopping block.
“Those items were ranked as having the most significant impact based on the Board’s ranking system, and will need to be prioritized to ensure required savings targets are met,” according to the newsletter. “The prioritization will also help guide the order in which any potential layoff notices could be rescinded before the final layoff notice deadline of May 15, should negotiated reductions reduce the need for staffing impacts.”
Aside from the contingency plan discussions, the board will need to vote on moving forward with an “initial Reduction in Force (RIF) resolution for reductions identified in the fall of 2025”. That resolution will be brought back for final board approval at a future meeting.
The board’s open-session meeting is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Thursday (Feb. 19). Read the full agenda here.
Police: Mother, son killed in shooting in neighborhood near Ken Mercer Sports ParkFebruary 18, 2026 5:47 pm
There still have not been sufficient reductions at the district office to warrant the reductions at school sites, especially and unfairly at elementary schools. Moving a classification of personnel from management to union still keeps them employees, just not on managements’s payroll, so it’s a smoke-and-mirrors situation. Look at why seven people are currently doing the work that previously was managed well by one person, and with several thousand more students enrolled. Cut the fat, not student services.
The Board seems to be open to community input. Why not attend the Board meeting, get a speaker card, outline your specific grievance in open session and ask for an explanation.