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Board discusses Phase‑3 budget reductions, soaks in 0‑based budgeting option and timeline
Summary
Superintendent and finance staff outlined a timeline for Phase‑3 budget reductions. Board members debated 0‑based budgeting, inclusion of principals in planning, and whether a referendum should follow a transparent, board‑led line‑item review.
District leaders briefed the board on the upcoming Phase‑3 budget reductions and realignment process during the June 9 work session, providing a high‑level timeline and soliciting board input on process and priorities.
Chief Financial Officer Michelle Vargas and Superintendent McIntyre said Phase‑3 work would proceed in summer and fall, with planning and stakeholder input in July–September and final board decisions targeted for November. Administration stressed operational constraints — FY26 staffing and year‑end closeout tasks limit the district’s ability to produce fully granular Phase‑3 recommendations before late summer — and recommended a modified approach to 0‑based budgeting that fits school finance realities.
Board members supported several shared principles: keeping students at the center of decisions; involving principals and other site leaders in shaping recommendations; identifying foundational "buckets" of spending (restricted funds, staffing for core instructional delivery, safety, food service) and then evaluating additional resources to add back as revenue allows. Michelle Vargas said the district’s FY27 budget is roughly $670–700 million and includes roughly 100 cost centers; she suggested the most productive approach would pair high‑level bucket analysis with targeted, site‑level review rather than a dollar‑by‑dollar review of every position.
Some board members pushed for a more direct, board‑led 0‑based process where the board would act to remove or retain items only when a majority of board members supported keeping an item in the budget. One board member said that approach would make a referendum more politically viable if the board publicly agreed, up front, to keep only items a majority supports. Others countered that the district’s timetable and the volume of restricted funds and staffing complexities require administration to model options for the board and that principals and department managers must be part of the process to explain service implications.
Administration said it would produce a modeled approach over the summer that reflects board guidance, including defined buckets and a proposal for stakeholder input and community meetings. Superintendent McIntyre noted the district is targeting approximately $15–16 million for Phase‑3 reductions, subject to final legislative action that the administration was tracking.
Board members generally endorsed a process that would be transparent and include principals’ input and asked the administration to return with modeling and a proposed schedule for September and October engagement so the board could finalize decisions in November.
