El Monte City School District superintendent details midyear gains, grants and a projected $20.9 million shortfall

Dr. Maribel Garcia, superintendent of the El Monte City School District, delivered a midyear strategic-plan update that highlighted early instructional gains, recent grants and a projected structural deficit for 2025–26.

"We are 5 months into a 5 year strategic plan," Dr. Garcia said, outlining four priority areas focused on academic excellence, relevance and engagement, student well‑being, and the systems that sustain that work. She told the board that districtwide mathematics scores showed growth from fall to winter and that more students are moving from median performance into higher-performance categories.

The superintendent said the district is strengthening early literacy by training all kindergarten through second‑grade teachers in the Norton Gillingham approach and by rolling out a districtwide MCAS literacy screener to provide consistent baseline data.

"By the end of the school year, all kindergarten through second grade teachers will be trained in the science of reading," Dr. Garcia said, describing the district's focus on foundational reading instruction.

Dr. Garcia also described investments in student engagement: a VAPA (visual and performing arts) progression matrix, a Pathful student-interest and career-awareness survey, and expanded after‑school and before‑school programming. She announced a $700,000 Strong Workforce grant to expand middle‑school career exploration and college and community partnerships.

Nutrition and student well‑being were also a focus. The superintendent said the district launched a "supper for all" program on Dec. 1 to provide evening meals to students regardless of after‑school enrollment. She described expanded training in trauma‑responsive practices, partnerships to scale restorative approaches, and a $100,000 restorative‑practices grant to support relationship‑centered systems.

Facilities and grants were highlighted as well. Dr. Garcia said kitchens across the district have been updated, five roofs were replaced and multiple bathroom modernizations were completed. She announced a $6,000,000 Cal Fire grant supporting outdoor learning and green‑space improvements at Cortada, Gidley and Sherpster.

At the same time, Dr. Garcia framed the district's fiscal outlook as shaped by long‑term demographic change. She said enrollment has fallen from just over 12,000 in 2000 to about 6,600 today, a decline she attributed to lower birth rates, rising housing costs and migration to more affordable areas. This year the district lost 272 students, about a 4% drop from the prior year.

Those trends, she said, combined with the expiration of one‑time federal pandemic funds, produce a projected shortfall for 2025–26. At the first interim, she reported general‑fund revenue of approximately $163.3 million against projected spending of about $184.2 million, resulting in a projected deficit of roughly $20.9 million.

"This slide in particular provides a snapshot of our general fund at first interim for the 2025–26 school year," she said, noting the need for long‑range fiscal strategies and disciplined planning.

Dr. Garcia also described personnel impacts: she reported 71 reductions to general‑education positions from 2015 to 2025, 11 reductions for 2025–26, and a projection that about 15 certificated positions may need to be right‑sized in 2026–27. She emphasized efforts to protect classroom instruction while aligning staffing to enrollment.

Board members thanked the superintendent and said they plan school visits to see the strategic plan in practice. The board had no immediate questions that altered the district's plan; Dr. Garcia closed by reminding the board that early enrollment for 2026–27 opens Feb. 2.

The update described a mix of instructional progress, new grant investments and a fiscal outlook that will require ongoing planning and possible staffing adjustments in coming years.