Petaluma board adopts $1 million in immediate cuts, outlines $5 million shortfall and advisory process

The Petaluma City Schools Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved a resolution identifying a projected $5 million budget shortfall for fiscal year 2026–27, and adopted a package of immediate reductions totaling about $1 million intended to shrink next year’s cuts.

The move comes after district staff told trustees that federal Title II, III and IV funds were being impounded and that other one‑time pandemic-era funds have expired, leaving the district exposed to a combination of federal delays, state funding uncertainty and expiring one‑time grants. Amanda (staff member) summarized the district’s analysis and presented the revised set of reductions the board approved at the meeting.

Why it matters: District leaders said the $5 million gap represents about 6% of the district’s budget and that early reductions this year amplify as recurring savings in later years — the administration said $1 million cut now carries the equivalent of roughly $2 million in the following year because of compounding staffing costs. Trustees authorized creation and outreach for a budget advisory committee that will meet at least four times before Dec. 31, 2025, and directed staff to return to the board with an implementation plan and a budget‑reduction timeline in February 2026 as part of the second interim report.

What the board approved: The board voted to adopt a revised reduction package that aims to limit immediate harm to school‑site services while producing the required near‑term savings. Key elements the board and staff described include:

- Preserving a halftime reading specialist at every elementary school rather than the full‑time reading specialists that were added during the pandemic; reassigning or converting 2.5 district reading‑specialist FTEs to classroom roles so employees remain employed in the district. Amanda said the change returns reading‑support staffing to levels the district used before pandemic one‑time funds expanded services.

- Reassigning a district communications coordinator to educational services and hiring short‑term contracted senior assistance for the vacant assistant‑superintendent role; staff estimated that reassignment would save roughly $192,000 in the current fiscal year.

- Eliminating several nonessential current vacancies (examples cited: an account clerk, a library media assistant, a kindergarten aide and some part‑time student adviser positions) and reducing five federally funded class sections at secondary comprehensive sites. Staff said those federally funded sections had been provided as extras and that federal funding for such programs is uncertain.

- Cutting the supplemental district contribution for athletics and field trips roughly in half (from about $260,000 to about $130,000), while leaving each site a reduced allocation for trips and athletic supports.

- Setting aside a modest pilot amount — roughly $10,000 per elementary school — to fund targeted after‑school reading intervention hours, to be developed at each site in cooperation with educational services.

Funding context presented to trustees: Staff outlined multiple revenue pressures. Amanda and other staff told the board that: Title II–IV federal funds for two recent years are being withheld pending a federal program review (an amount described as roughly $300,000 per year for the district and $600,000 together for two years); federal special education funding exceeding $2 million is subject to reallocation uncertainty; the state’s LCFF calculations and Prop. 98 minimum‑guarantee litigation have also made timing and amounts unpredictable; and a one‑time student‑support block grant (estimated near $2.2 million) and a learning recovery emergency block grant (noted as more than $3 million) are not yet fully available in the district’s budget or may be constrained by compliance timelines. The board heard that those funding shifts — together with the expiration of pandemic relief funds and a failed secondary parcel tax that received roughly 64% support but fell short of the two‑thirds threshold — create a multi‑year gap that requires both immediate and longer‑term steps.

Public response: Dozens of parents, teachers and school staff addressed the board during the public comment period. Reading specialists, union representatives and parents urged trustees to preserve reading‑intervention staff and other student‑facing positions. Claire Sitzer, a reading specialist at Pangrove Elementary, urged the board to protect tier‑two reading supports and proposed a learning‑center model that pairs reading specialists with special‑education staff. Sandra Larson, president of the teachers’ union, supported returning to pre‑pandemic halftime reading‑specialist staffing in order to limit long‑term program loss. Several speakers warned that cutting reading specialists risks higher long‑term costs if more students are later placed into special education services.

What happens next: The board approved formation of a budget advisory committee; staff will post committee composition and meeting times. Trustees said they expect the committee’s recommendations and staff’s February 2026 implementation plan to guide additional decisions. Board members also signaled they will review vendor and contract spending in future meetings as part of continuing deficit‑reduction work.

Votes at a glance (actions recorded at the meeting): - Resolution 25,261 (identify needed budget adjustments for FY 2026–27): motion to adopt read into the record; outcome: approved. - Immediate 2025–26 budget reductions (revised package discussed and summarized above): motion to adopt revised recommendations; outcome: approved. - Salary schedules and contract amendments for 2024–25 (classified and certificated management schedules; cabinet contract modifications): motion to approve (listed on the consent/action agenda); outcome: approved (record shows at least one opposed remark during the vote). - Appointment of the superintendent as secretary to the board: motion approved. - Appointment of Linda Shaley as senior citizen representative to the Citizens’ Oversight Committee: motion approved. - Approval of an expanded prequalified architectural pool for bond projects (added firms to reach a total pool of 10 architects): motion approved. - Approval to reassign the communications coordinator into educational services and to pursue a contracted interim assistant‑superintendent as described: included in the approved reduction package.

The board repeatedly stressed that early reductions were painful but, in staff’s view, necessary to reduce the scope of additional cuts in 2026–27. Trustees and district staff urged community members to participate on the budget advisory committee and to submit ideas for revenue increases or cost reductions for the committee’s consideration.