School district preparing to cut jobs

BY STEPHANIE LAM
Daily Post Correspondent

The Mountain View Whisman School District is preparing to cut several full-time district positions next year in an effort to save $9 million.

Parent Lillian Good said at a board meeting on Dec. 18 that she is concerned the district is making reductions based on flawed budget data. In previous years, the district has warned about potential financial woes, but instead saw revenue growth, Good said.

“The most responsible option at this point in time is to pause on deciding to cut any program that directly or indirectly improve our students’ education,” Good said. “Instead wait and see to what degree, if any, a deficit is actually realized.”

Mountain View Whisman is looking to slice more than 18 full-time positions at the district’s office after learning they must save $9 million annually beginning next school year. The positions include a mix of administrators, teachers and non-teachers employees. The setback comes from a decline in property tax revenues, which is the district’s main funding source.

In the past, the district has typically projected a 2 to 3% annual growth in assessed values and the actual figures have come out much higher. However, this year the district projected a more accurate 2.34%, based on information from the county assessor’s office.

Santa Clara County this year witnessed its property values increase by the smallest amount in over a decade, with Mountain View having the lowest growth rate of any city in the county.

Superintendent Jeffery Baier said the main priority is to avoid cuts that will directly affect students.

Residents have previously critiqued how Mountain View spends its multi-million dollar budget.

In 2024, locals raised concerns over the district spending $121,150 for sessions with an “energy healer” last school year. The district had used Alycia Diggs-Chavis, a certified energy healer and intuition coach, for 121 sessions for 159 employees.

They also questioned why the district spent $90,000 on a six-month contract with an outside PR company to promote a teacher housing project.