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PVUSD sustainable budget team told to find roughly $5 million in cuts as staffing review continues
Summary
Pajaro Valley Unified’s sustainable budget team heard a comparison of district staffing with peers and was told the district likely faces about a $5 million reduction next school year; staff proposed a package of recommendations and scheduled FCMAT special education review to inform decisions.
Presenter, representing Pajaro Valley Unified, told the sustainable budget team the district is facing an estimated $5,000,000 reduction for the next school year and that the team’s charge is to identify where that shortfall will come from.
The meeting included a detailed review of central-office and school-site staffing compared with similar districts. Presenter reported that the district serves 16,687 students across K–12, adult education and early childhood programs and employs about 2,383 people. She pointed to specific unit comparisons — accounting (6 FTE), finance (10 FTE), payroll and benefits (7.5 FTE) — and said transportation staffing (94 FTE) is higher than a comparable district she reviewed, which she attributed to PVUSD’s larger geography.
The staffing comparison, Presenter said, was meant to help the team determine whether PVUSD is over- or under-staffed in particular functions and to inform where reductions could be implemented with the least disruption to core instruction.
Presenter also listed recent district office reductions implemented as ESSER funds have sunset and enrollment declined: a transportation supervisor position and a district technology support technician were not refilled, an academic social-emotional counseling coordinator position was closed this year, and several classified administrative positions were consolidated or left vacant.
To support decision-making, Presenter said FCMAT — the state’s Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team — completed a human resources study this year and a special education FCMAT review was approved and scheduled for February, with an expected board report in March. "FCMAT was just approved for our special education department, and they are scheduled to come in February," she said.
Committee members asked for clarification on whether the $5 million estimate included programs currently supported by time-limited funds, such as social-emotional counselors; Presenter confirmed the estimate is inclusive of sunsetting program funds.
The team was told the district will present a first interim report to the school board on Dec. 11 showing the budget snapshot that will frame recommendation drafting. Presenter said she and district staff will prepare options for the sustainable budget team to review at the next meeting and that the team will refine recommendations to forward to the board.
The meeting closed with scheduling details and an invitation for members to submit additional information by email ahead of the next session.
