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PEAF advisory committee urges outcome-based budgeting and asks board to revisit $97M portfolio amid district budget crisis
Summary
The PEAF Community Advisory Committee presented recommendations to prioritize programs that deliver proximate student benefits, add per-pupil cost reporting, and require board review before using other-general-use funds. Board members signaled concern about rollover funding and asked for stronger alignment with district goals and the fiscal stabilization plan.
The Public Education Enrichment Fund (PEAF) Community Advisory Committee presented its recommended expenditure plan on June 11 and urged the board and district staff to tighten oversight, report per-pupil costs and align PEAF spending with measurable student outcomes.
PEAF Director Edwin Diaz said the city's June estimate put 2024–25 PEAF revenues at roughly $97 million and that a roughly $25 million fund balance left about $122 million in available resources. Diaz noted that a prior $15 million academic MTSS allocation is being shifted this year to an Education Recovery block grant, which freed up space in the PEAF portfolio to fund other priorities.
PEAF advisory co-chairs presented a set of formal recommendations: require district staff to seek the CAC's recommendations before shifting funds out of the PEAF Other General Uses (OGU) category; include per-pupil cost lines and outcome data with each PEAF-funded proposal; and protect certain targeted supports (for example, programs serving African American students) from cuts. The CAC also proposed making elementary instrumental music a mandatory, not opt-in, program, and called for expanded math/science staffing, coaching and a STEM educators advisory group.
Board members and the superintendent acknowledged the recommendations but said meaningful changes will require system-level alignment and time. President Metamiti told the CAC members their input was valued but added that the budget submission timeline and ongoing fiscal crisis means significant changes before the June 25 budget vote would be challenging. Several commissioners said they are uncomfortable approving a PEAF portfolio they consider to be a rollover of prior allocations without stronger evidence of strategic prioritization.
PEAF staff and CAC co-chairs said they will continue discussions with district leadership and present more granular budget- and evaluation-level detail to the board and advisory committees in the fall. The board extended the meeting to continue discussions and asked staff to provide clarifying documentation about the city appropriation process and legal requirements for PEAF reporting.
