Pacific Grove Unified outlines staff reductions, board asks for non-student-facing options

Superintendent Dr. Adamson presented proposals Feb. 6 for staff and program reductions intended to address a projected structural deficit in Pacific Grove Unified School District (PGUSD) and to align recurring expenses with expected revenues.

The proposals, presented by Buck Rogerman, the district's chief human resources officer, would cut a mix of certificated and classified positions and change some contracted services. Rogerman said the district faces a projected unrestricted general fund deficit of about $868,000 at the first interim report and multi-year deficit spending that “now requires our action to ensure our district's long term fiscal stability.”

The district's staff offered a package of reductions and additions intended to yield roughly $1.25 million in net savings for 2025–26, including a proposed 4.0 full-time-equivalent (FTE) reduction in elementary classroom teachers, reductions to some instructional-assistant hours, the loss of an itinerant digital-learning teacher and elimination or reduction of several contracted services. At the same time, staff recommended retaining or adding certain roles they described as essential, including two mental-health therapist positions and elementary intervention support.

“Every position and program that we're discussing in relation to the budget represents dedicated professionals who have served our students and community,” Dr. Adamson said. “These are not decisions that are taken lightly.”

Buck Rogerman outlined specifics in the staff packet and presentation: the $868,148 figure from the district's October interim, an expected minimum 3% cut to goods-and-services budgets (about $131,000), and proposed line-item staffing changes that together produced the net savings target. Rogerman said figures attached to each position include salary plus statutory benefits.

Yolanda Corten, listed in the presentation as an executive director, described the district's mental-health structure and explained the staff recommendation to replace an external contract with in-house therapists. Corten said contracted Monterey County Behavioral Health work largely serves students with individualized education programs (IEPs) and that moving more services in-house could increase coordination and potentially control costs.

Parents, teachers, students and union representatives urged the board to preserve mental-health services, STEAM and elementary Spanish. A middle- or high-school student who spoke from the podium described receiving counseling support and said, “Without Ms. Cordova's support, I would not have been at a place where I could mentally contribute to the PGHS community.”

Representatives of the Pacific Grove Teachers Association (PGTA) told the board to seek long-term solutions that avoid placing cuts primarily on classroom teachers. “Cuts should be as far away from the classroom as possible,” said Lauren Davis, identified in public comment as a resource teacher and PGTA negotiator.

Several speakers asked the board to pursue non-student-facing reductions, management-level savings, alternate revenue or one-time fixes rather than layoffs or reductions that remove direct services to students. A number of trustees echoed that request during discussion and asked staff to return with more creative, comprehensive options.

Trustees used the discussion to give staff direction rather than to take a final vote on reductions. The board extended the public-comment period to hear more speakers and repeatedly stressed the need for additional detail before directing any reductions.

Trustee Atmar said the board should see options that do not cut student-facing positions. “We cannot say that we value the health and wellness of our students and in the same breath say, but we're going to cut mental health and aides,” she said.

Trustee McNary asked staff to examine cuts at the district-office and management levels and to bring back detailed alternatives. “If it's the direction that we're carrying, then absolutely, we will be going back and looking creatively at everything,” he said.

Chief Rogerman and assistant superintendent John (named in the packet and at the dais) acknowledged that some district positions were originally funded with one-time pandemic recovery dollars and warned that the expiration of those revenues would require structural adjustments unless new recurring funding is identified. The staff presentation said $2.6 million in one-time federal monies used in prior years will not recur.

The district will present updated budget figures during the next interim reporting and return to the board with alternative cost-savings scenarios. Trustees emphasized they wanted a range of proposals — including non-student-facing reductions, management pay or staffing adjustments, contract renegotiations, program consolidations and creative revenue options — before they would consider any reductions that directly affect classroom instruction or school-based supports.

Ending

The board did not vote on the staff recommendations Feb. 6. Instead trustees directed staff to explore additional cost-savings and revenue options and to return with detailed alternatives — with particular attention to preserving mental-health therapists, elementary intervention and other student-facing services where possible. The district intends to bring updated fiscal projections and revised proposals to subsequent meetings during the spring 2025 budget cycle.