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Mesa Public Schools outlines reorganization to save millions as enrollment falls
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Straum and Chief of Staff Mr. Wing presented a plan to replace five assistant superintendent posts with two chief roles, trim district administration and post the new leadership jobs internally as enrollment and state funding pressures push a projected $9–$18 million shortfall for 2026–27.
Superintendent Dr. Straum told the Mesa Public Schools Governing Board the district is redesigning central office staffing for the 2026–27 school year to protect school-based resources as enrollment and revenue decline. “Our purpose in Mesa Public Schools is to serve every student by name, know every student by name, serve by strength and need, and get them ready for college, career, and community,” Dr. Straum said.
The plan presented by Mr. Wing, chief of staff, would eliminate five assistant superintendent positions and create two new chief roles — a chief of academics and a chief of schools — with executive directors and site-based teams beneath them. Mr. Wing said the shift would reduce central-office administrative FTE and produce an estimated $2.5 million to $3.5 million in annual savings from the initial phase of the redesign.
Board members were given a timeline and staffing steps: the district plans to post the two chief positions internally the day after board approval, recommend hires for the positions at the Aug. 28 governing-board meeting, and have new incumbents start July 1, 2026. Mr. Wing described a “domino effect” in which those chiefs would then help design and hire executive directors and other roles. He said internal-only postings are intended to give current employees first consideration; if no internal candidate is found, the district will go external.
Why it matters: district leaders said the change responds to a multi-year enrollment decline the district expects to continue. Dr. Straum told the board the district projects a drop of about 4,000–5,000 students over roughly three years, with especially large declines at the high-school level (about 2,500 students over the same period). Those shifts, he said, will reduce state funding and could create a 2026–27 budget shortfall estimated between $9 million and $18 million.
Board members asked about fairness and transparency for employees affected by the reduction and about protection of special-education services. Member Hutchinson pressed for assurances the internal hiring process would be fair; Mr. Wing described multiple interview panels that human resources will run, including large and small panels with diverse stakeholders, and said finalists would be interviewed by the superintendent. Member Benson and others raised that about 20% of district students receive special-education services and asked how those services would be preserved under the new structure.
Public comment echoed those concerns. Jason Smithson, a Webster Elementary parent, urged the board not to eliminate the assistant-superintendent role that oversees special education, warning the loss of a visible advocate “is devastating” for families who rely on district-level oversight.
Background and context: district leaders said the redesign aims to preserve funding ratios for classrooms and delay any increases to class-size funding ratios as long as possible. Mr. Wing and Dr. Straum emphasized the effort is one piece of a larger budget strategy that includes a stipends audit and other cost-saving measures. They described the approach as collaborative: hire the two top chiefs first, then ask those leaders to help design the downstream jobs and job descriptions.
Next steps: the board was asked to approve the personnel request that recommends eliminating five assistant superintendent positions and adding two chief positions; that request later appeared as a consent/action item on the meeting agenda and was approved by roll call.
