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New superintendent praises bond win, urges collaboration as district braces for tough budget year
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Maria Su, in her first full board meeting, thanked voters for passing the school bond, promoted enrollment and upcoming programs, condemned racist texts targeting students and warned the district will face a difficult budget year while promising collaborative, student‑centered decision‑making.
Superintendent Dr. Maria Su used her first full Board of Education meeting to thank the community for passing a new school bond and to outline priorities for the coming months while cautioning that the district faces a difficult budget year.
"With the passage of this bond, we will be able to invest in much‑needed improvements in our schools," Su said, expressing gratitude to voters and promising updates on next steps available on the district website. She urged families to complete new‑school enrollment applications by the January 31 deadline and reminded the public about upcoming parent‑teacher conferences and fall recess dates.
Su also addressed a spate of racist text attacks she said had circulated locally and nationally. "I want to say thank you to the NAACP and our faith communities and to the city for standing with our students and our school district to condemn those texts," she said, and added the district stands by protecting students' rights.
Turning to finances, Su warned, "We will be experiencing a very tough budget year. We will have to make really tough decisions," but added, "Please know that we have made no decisions on any cuts to programs or staff at this moment in time," and said the budget work will be done in collaboration with the school community.
President Alexander said the board will fold the Fiscal and Operational Health ad hoc committee into the full board’s work to better align budgeting with student outcomes. Committee Chair Lam described four committee objectives — monitoring superintendent plans, improving fiscal governance, improving evaluation of the superintendent’s management, and ensuring the full board understands financial risk — and said the committee will maintain a public dashboard updated monthly so the public can see progress against targets.
The superintendent’s report also promoted district events and programs, including Inclusive School Week and Native American Heritage Month activities.
Su said the board will present a district budget at next month’s meeting and emphasized the district’s commitment to centering student outcomes in decisions.
