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Sustainable budget team narrows recommended cuts, debates PVPSA contract versus district counselors
Summary
Pajaro Valley Unified’s Sustainable Budget Team refined draft recommendations to present to the Board of Education, debating whether to cut more from the PVPSA mental‑health contract or from district-employed social‑emotional counselors; members agreed to revise slides and present multiple options at the Jan. 15 board meeting.
The Sustainable Budget Team for Pajaro Valley Unified reviewed a draft presentation and wrestled on Wednesday with competing ways to reach a district reduction target now estimated at roughly $5 million to $5.6 million as one-time COVID (ESSER) funds expire and enrollment declines.
The committee’s draft slide deck lays out five configuration options and previously convergent recommendations (options B and D) that together totaled about $5.6 million in reductions. Staff said a $5 million reduction would be a conservative immediate goal but recommended a phased approach to avoid “draconian” cuts next year. "This is a recommendation to the board — ultimately it’s the board’s decision," the meeting chair told the group.
Why it matters: the district absorbed many pandemic-funded positions into ongoing budgets while enrollment fell, and those one-time funds are ending. The team was charged with producing a recommendation that balances fiscal solvency with maintaining instructional programs and equitable student supports.
Discussion centered on two fault lines. One was how much to reduce the…
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