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Santa Paula Unified adopts 2025–26 budget as trustees warn of coming cuts
Summary
Trustees approved the district’s 2025–26 adopted budget despite a structural deficit and promises to use reserves; a letter read from Trustee Mike Kamasawa urged immediate expenditure reductions and a return to balanced budgets.
The Santa Paula Unified School District Board of Trustees adopted the district’s 2025–26 budget after hearing that the plan still relies on reserve funds to cover ongoing operations.
Chief Business Officer Laurie Toms told the board the numbers presented at the prior meeting remain unchanged and that staff will continue work to align expenses with declining enrollment and projected revenues. Toms said the budget as adopted will allow operations to continue while staff develops longer-term reductions and revenue strategies.
In a letter read into the record, Trustee Mike Kamasawa warned the board that the district is “needing to use its reserves to fund ongoing operations” and called for immediate identification of areas to cut so reserves are used only for one-time or emergency expenditures. The letter concluded that the district must “strive to adopt future balanced budgets without the use of reserves.”
Trustees discussed the timeline for developing cuts and asked staff to bring quarterly updates and specific recommendations. One trustee said the reductions will be “hard” and “not fun,” but expressed confidence the district can resolve the imbalance.
The board voted to adopt the budget on a recorded roll call (vote recorded as unanimous in the meeting minutes). The board also directed staff to present options and a timeline for potential expenditure reductions to be considered at future meetings.
The next procedural step is for staff to present more detailed proposals on possible cuts and revenue strategies in coming months; trustees said they expect ongoing reports as the district moves toward a sustainable budget.
