BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Layoffs are on the table as the Palo Alto Unified School District faces $33 million in budget cuts for the next school year.
“We’re going to have to fire people,” board member Shounak Dharap said at Tuesday’s meeting.
New Superintendent Jason Glass said the budget cuts are the board’s most important work over the next two years. He expects finger-pointing, attacks and suggestions that the district is bloated or should cut down on lightbulbs, paper or copy machines.
But the budget deficit is too large, and the board will have to consider cutting “terrific” programs, services and employees, Glass said.
“These conversations are going to make people scared and angry. We have to have them anyways,” Glass said.
The district will try to avoid layoffs by not filling positions and reassigning employees, Glass said.
The cuts have already reached the district office as Glass has decided not to fill some administrative positions.
Board member Shana Segal said she wants the board to discuss a second attempt at renewing the district’s parcel tax during a special election in the spring.
The tax renewal came up short at the June 2 election.
Much of the projected budget deficit can be attributed to new contracts the district has with its labor unions, giving employees a 10.4% raise and $10,000 in bonuses.
Dharap said the board wanted to avoid a strike as a new superintendent came in, but now Glass is in the “unenviable position” of proposing cuts.
Former board member Ken Dauber criticized the board for approving “unaffordable and excessively generous” contracts.
“The board has created a financial crisis entirely of its own making,” Dauber said at Tuesday’s meeting. “This is a disastrous outcome that was entirely foreseeable … and unfortunately now the community is going to have to pay that consequence.”
Board member Alison Kamhi said she wants to look into transferring more money from the district’s reserves.
Board member Josh Salcman said he wants to be upfront about how cuts will be decided. For example, the board can try to make cuts that are reversible or as far away from the classroom as possible, he said.
“It will give folks more time to start to come to terms with what that reality is, before we get to the point where we’re actually voting,” Salcman said.
The district has until March 15 to issue layoff notices, Chief Business Officer Charen Yu said.
The board is looking at another $10 million in budget cuts for the 2028-29 school year, Yu said.
One of the biggest budget factors is property tax revenue growth. The Santa Clara County Assessor’s Office will have its latest projections in early September, Yu said.
Ken Dauber and Todd Collins torpedoed the parcel tax which would fund half of the projected budget deficit.
Also, it’s quite revealing the Post uses the secondary headline “After teachers get 10% raise” when administrators and classified staff got the same raise.
Well why don’t you teachers give back the raise? How can you live with yourselves knowing you caused these layoffs? Do the right thing. Don’t complain that the newspaper is pointing out how much money you’re going to get. That’s a distraction. Give the raise back.
The board gave raises it can’t afford, with or without the parcel tax. This usually happens in places like Oakland and Los Angeles; it’s shocking to see it in Palo Alto, which has been well-managed in the past. Asking taxpayers to now bailout the unaffordable contracts will likely backfire – this is a colossal blunder by the school board, pure and simple.
Wow. Where do we start? Looks like Dr. Glass’s honeymoon period just came to a screeching halt. By the way, I don’t think the Palo Alto taxpayers forgot that PAUSD traded Don Austin for Dr. Glass, who also got a mutual separation contract, except he signed his only 10 months into a 4 year contract with Laguna Beach Unified. Isn’t it nice to know that when superintendents don’t work out in a significant way, you can just trade them like Pokeman cards to other districts, or the same districts. Moving on….. Who’s in charge of the money for PAUSD? Oh yeah, it’s the CBO. Was Charen yelling “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” when PAUSD was negotiating these contracts? I have to go back and watch the board meeting tapes but it might have been more like Willy Wonka saying “stop” yawning…… “I wouldn’t do that.” Now the person that failed on that level is gonna be given the responsibility and authority to fire people that she may or may not like? WOW… How did she even get that job? Did Don Austin open the PAUSD CBO position to the public when Carolyn Chow retired, Charen’s mentor and vacation buddy, or did he just wave his wand and make her the new PAUSD CBO? Definitely worth looking into. Who also helped negotiate this contract? Oh yeah, wasn’t it the the substitute superintendent Herb who also forgot you can’t give 80% x two = 160% to 2 different unions? Ultimately, at the end of the day, the BOE had the final say and political pressure got them. But wait, there’s more!!!!! Lawsuits that not only keep dog piling PAUSD but the negative nationwide media coverage of the Paly field trip too. In never ends…. Accountability starts at the top of any organization, period, full stop. Imagine an poorly managed, borderline incompetent, $369 million dollar tax payer funded business still being run by half the crew responsible for this ongoing mess in the first place. I honestly hope Dr. Glass is better and different, but make no mistake, this community will have you on a very short accountability leash. It will take true leadership and the courage to make leadership change in other areas to navigate this debacle that will hold people’s livelihoods and critical services needed for the children of PAUSD. Dr Glass, please look around the foxhole and ask yourself, are these the people I want next to me when the community political pressure goes up 5-10 more notches because of what they have done previously, because it is just getting started. Lots of upset Palo Alto property tax payers will definitely show up in force to pick the next 2 PAUSD board members this November 3rd.
The CBO and others were very clear what would happen if the contracts were approved. As another outlet put it, “School board defies gloomy projections, adopts $369M budget.” The board caved to the unions, even after the parcel tax renewal failed, and now the hens have come home to roost. The buck clearly stops with the board.
Shame on the union for their greed, and on the Board of Education for approving the new union contracts. The Union knows layoffs would be a consequence, but went ahead with their demand for raises and one time bonus payments; layoffs will affect those with less seniority, so the union enriching the older employees and the cost of employees who are starting in their career. And the Board of Education acted like a bunch of feckless baffoons, especially SHana Segal and Shounak. The $100 million in reserves will used up on these salary increases – and no where is there any mention of improved education for students, in fact under Shana & Shounak they’ve removed offerings (such as de-laning biology, 9th grade English, 9th grade social studies), and there was the who kerfulle on teaching multivariable calculas.
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