Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) expects an outside review of the projections behind its proposed $33 million budget cut for the 2027-28 school year to be completed by the end of October. The cuts follow increases in staff salaries and voters’ rejection of a $14 million funding measure this summer, and results of the review will inform the district’s recommendations for where the PAUSD board should implement the cuts.
“We can’t find $33 million worth of cuts without touching the classroom in some way,” board Vice President Rowena Chiu told The Daily. “It is our responsibility to do what we can to mitigate that.”
In June, Palo Alto voters rejected Measure B, a parcel tax that would have raised roughly $14 million for the school district next year. The denial marked the first time in 22 years that voters had rejected a district parcel tax.
Two weeks later, the board approved raises of 10.4% for teachers and 10.2% for non-teaching staff following negotiations with the district’s two employee unions. Staff salaries and benefits are roughly $35 million higher than in the budget adopted in June, according to an August presentation by Chief Business Officer Charen Yu. The board is now considering placing a new parcel tax on the ballot in March, Palo Alto Online reported.
The district’s deadline for layoff notices is Mar. 15, and the board plans to vote on reductions in January, 2027. School Services of California (SSC), a Sacramento-based consulting firm, began the review on Oct. 1, aiming to reexamine the current $33 million figure by the end of the month, according to Yu. She noted that the firm will present its findings to the board by Dec. 15.
“The staff is preparing a list of potential reductions,” Superintendent Jason Glass said. “We’re doing that right now based on the values that the board set forth.”
At its Oct. 13 meeting, the board outlined three main values the cuts will follow: protecting classroom instruction, ensuring reductions don’t disproportionately affect students with disabilities and special needs and preserving the breadth of programs.
The district selected SSC to conduct the review. “We understood that there was a need to do this quickly, and so we selected a firm that had the credibility and could do it in the time frame that we wanted,” Glass said.
Chiu proposed at a September board meeting that the board select its own firm to conduct an additional budget review. Palo Alto Educators Association President Tom Culbertson endorsed this idea.
“I suspect Vice President Chiu wants a thorough investigation of the district’s finances, which we would welcome — especially from independent outside experts — given our longstanding skepticism regarding the district’s financial projections,” Culbertson wrote to The Daily.