PVUSD facing $5 million in cuts next year

Editor’s note: this story has been corrected from an earlier version. The district is not considering reducing class sizes.

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In the coming year, Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s seven-member Board of Trustees—five of them newly elected—must cut $5 million from the budget, with more reductions likely in future years.

That’s according to PVUSD Superintendent Heather Contreras, whose Sustainable Budget Team (SBT)—launched in August to help the district navigate the financial impacts of declining enrollment—will make recommendations for reductions during a Dec. 10 meeting.

The 24-member team must also help the district “right-size” as state funding that helped schools weather the Covid-19 pandemic, known as Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER), is sunsetting this year, Contreras says.

It is not yet clear what the SBT will recommend to be cut or eliminated.

But likely first on the chopping block are the positions added during the pandemic using the one-time ESSER funds, Contreras says.

Using one-time funds for an ongoing expense, she adds, broke the “golden rule” of financing.

Still, she says the hires were a “smart decision” that came during a challenging time for education.

“Because I think our students needed that, and I think we chose our students and meeting their needs,” she said.

School districts throughout California are facing a bleak financial picture, with declining enrollment taking a multimillion-dollar bite out of the Average Daily Attendance funding upon which they depend.

According to the state Department of Finance, the state’s schools saw its seventh consecutive decrease last year, losing 14,900 students. A loss of more than a half-million more students is expected over the next decade.

In PVUSD, schools are far under capacity, with elementary schools at 64%, middle schools at 59% and high schools at 66.4%

“We do have many sites that are being underutilized,” she says. “In times of huge declining enrollment, school districts do have to make the tough decisions of school closures.”

Contreras stresses that there are no plans to close schools next year.

“This is going to be the first year of two where we need to make budget reductions, and see how we might explore ideas for being more sustainable.”

The budget team, which meets twice monthly, is made up of 12 parents, two people from community organizations and 10 district employees.

Its top priorities as it looks to make cuts, she says, is preserving academic instruction, art programs, opportunities such as sports and enrichment activities, career-technical education  and mental health and family resources, among other things.

The SBT will meet twice more before the end of the year. The suggestions will go to the board for consideration on Jan. 15.

“We really do take the ideas that come from the team as our main mechanism for the recommendations,” Contreras said. “We want their input.”

Contreras had praise for the members of the inaugural team. 

“It’s been a great process,” she says. “The team has done a great job of coming together and discussing difficult topics.”

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The PVUSD Sustainable Budget Team will meet Dec. 10 from 6–8pm in the district office boardroom at 294 Green Valley Road, Boardroom. It is open to the public.