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Pasadena Unified board certifies 2025–26 second interim budget report
Summary
After a presentation and questions about liabilities, restricted medical-billing funds and enrollment trends, the Pasadena Unified School District board voted to certify its 2025–26 second interim report as showing a positive financial condition; trustees noted uncertainty until the state's May revise.
The Pasadena Unified School District board on Feb. 26 certified the district's 2025–26 second interim budget report, a routine statutory step that the district's finance staff said shows the district can meet its financial obligations under current assumptions.
"Our recommendation this evening is gonna be for the board to certify the financial conditions of the district as positive," said Dr. Kunal, the district's presenter on the second interim, whose slide deck and remarks summarized revenues and expenditures through Jan. 31 and described key assumptions, including treatment of fire-related revenues and the handling of fund 17 for OPEB and other long-term liabilities.
The report covers activity through Jan. 31 and therefore does not reflect board actions taken on Feb. 26, including approved layoff resolutions, Dr. Kunal said. He noted the state's fiscal outlook remains uncertain: the governor's proposed budget faces a reported $2.9 billion shortfall and contains a mix of one-time funding proposals that will be clarified in the May revise.
Trustees asked detailed questions during the public exchange. Trustee Kinney pressed whether a potential AB 218 liability estimated at about $1.6 million applies to 2025–26; Dr. Kunal replied, "I believe it yes. It is," and confirmed the number is tied to two remaining cases that staff will continue to monitor.
Trustees also sought clarification about restricted balances identified in the report. Kinney asked what could be spent from a roughly $6.4 million medical-billing restricted account; Dr. Kunal said those funds are claimed by staff who work with the relevant student populations and that allowable expenditures typically include clinical staff time such as nurses, noting he would provide a fuller accounting on request.
Board members discussed special-education spending and the district's efforts to tighten coding and tracking. Dr. Kunal said the district has worked with a consultant to identify opportunities to document allowable exemptions and better attribute expenditures to special education without reducing services.
A student assembly representative told the board the student body had discussed the item and voted to support certification, saying, "A vote to vote no would signal that we do not believe PUSD can meet its financial quarters." Trustees acknowledged the emotional context around staffing reductions and community losses this school year while stressing the statutory requirement to certify the interim report.
Following motions and brief advocacy statements from trustees expressing both concern and appreciation for staff work, the board took a roll-call vote; the chair announced the motion passed and the certification was approved. Chair and trustees said they expect the May revise and the June budget adoption to provide clearer information about one-time state funding and the district's ultimate fiscal position.
The board adjourned after completing the item. The certification preserves the district's compliance with statutory reporting deadlines while staff continue to track pending liabilities, restricted fund details, and potential changes from the state budget process.
