BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
The Palo Alto Unified School District, which is facing an estimated $33 million in budget cuts next year, bought two sushi machines for $56,599 last year, purchasing records show.
The machines are called “Xtop R1.” They can make 240 to 360 rolls per hour in different sizes, according to the vendor.
The district spent $18,067 with East Bay Restaurant Supply on Jan. 13, 2025, and $38,532 with Culinary Depot on June 6, 2025, according to purchasing reports submitted to the school board. The district bought the machines using a kitchen infrastructure grant from the California Department of Education, said district spokeswoman Lynette White.
The Student Nutrition Services Department bought the machines because sushi was the second most requested lunch entree by students, only behind pizza, White said.
“We hand-rolled sushi several times, found it too labor-intensive, and ultimately decided to request quotes for sushi-rolling machines,” White said.
Every school in the district now has a “sushi specialty day,” White said.
“We offered California rolls with surimi instead of real crabmeat, and vegetarian sushi with fresh red, green, and yellow bell pepper strips, shredded carrots, and cucumber sticks,” White said.
The purchases were brought to light on Wednesday by school board candidate Avery Wang during an interview with the Daily Post. He mentioned the machines after being asked about how, if elected, he would address the budget hole the district is facing. Current estimates say the district will have to cut $33 million next year, which will mean layoffs.
Wang said he was concerned to see the budget outlook because property tax revenue is going up, and student enrollment is going down.
Wang said sushi machines are a tiny fraction of the district’s budget but could represent a larger problem.
“I’m convinced there’s a lot of waste,” he said.
Wang said he wants to hire an independent auditor and end no-bid contracts. Governments often bid for products and services in order to obtain the best price from a list of qualified bidders. Without bids, governments sometimes pay more than necessary.
For example, the district hired the company Right At School to run an after-school program instead of continuing with the nonprofit Palo Alto Community Child Care as the sole provider. Wang also criticized the board for hiring the firm WestEd for $563,414 to develop tests for students to skip a level in middle school math.
“This is fiscally suboptimal when free options are available,” Wang said at a board meeting in February 2025.
Wang said the board should look into an increase in spending on administrators during the nine-year tenure of former Superintendent Don Austin.
More extravagance and waste from the Don Austin Era. And this was happening under the nose of our current school board. When teachers lose their jobs next year, they’ll be thinking about these sushi machines.
“The district bought the machines using a kitchen infrastructure grant from the California Department of Education, said district spokeswoman Lynette White.”
Just say no to Measure J to hike our sales tax to “pay” PAUSD $65,000,000 for the Cubberley land when there’s no proof either the city or PAUSD would spend the money wisely and where there’s no oversight or accountability.
Note this is a forever tax since there’s no sunset provision and that the money isn’t even designated for Cubberely and just flows into the General Fund along with the $25,000,000 per year we’ve been OVERcharged for utilities for years.
Pay attention and vote wisely.
This is money well spent if it produces food that students want and eat. Think of how much money and food will be wasted if students won’t eat what’s served.
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It is a lot more fun to spend the taxpayer’s money, than it is to spend your own.
You cannot make this stuff up. A school district facing a multi-million-dollar budget hole somehow found $56,599 for two sushi machines. That isn’t just tone-deaf—it’s an obscene display of misplaced priorities. Don’t tell families and teachers there’s no money while spending nearly $57,000 on a luxury “nice-to-have.” If this is fiscal responsibility, taxpayers deserve to see what else is on the menu.
If the PAS district had a fully functioning purchase management office with internal oversite, they could, with very little effort, find the XTOP R1 is available online new for $13,000 a copy, and that’s not a wholesale price. A significant savings from the amount spent thru East Bay Restaurant Supply for two units. In the final analysis, unelected & elected bureaucrats both really do spend taxpayer dollars like drunken sailors on shore leave.
The story that it was funded by a state grant seems legit. There was $600 million allocated by the state likely because making meals free for all required significant expansion by School districts. From the CA department of education website:
2022 Kitchen Infrastructure and Training Funds
The 2022 Kitchen Infrastructure and Training (KIT) Funding allocations provide eligible local educational agencies with additional state funds to purchase equipment and upgrades to kitchen infrastructures and offer food service staff training.
I laughed when I read this story b/c it is so absurd. As Tax Payer notes, you cannot make this stuff up. So what if a case can be made to justify the purchase. The optics are TERRIBLE.
Let’s not forget the COLOMBO disaster, which drained $3.25 million from our district and will almost certainly drive up our insurance rates. That is equivalent to 17 years of pay for a top-tier PAUSD teacher. Why did this happen? Because PAUSD, Austin, and the Daubers chose to play political games. They railroaded an easy target based on past history that had absolutely nothing to do with harming a child.
The sushi machines feed thousands of kids per day across the whole district. There are way bigger problems with the spending than machines that help with food production.
The district didn’t pay for the machines. They used a grant that was specifically intended for kitchen infrastructure. I’m all about fiscal responsibility, but this reporting and these comments are shoddy. You can’t repurpose grant money to plug your budget holes; grant money is earmarked for specific projects. Grants are competitive and organizations apply for them. Wang should be applauding Food Services for applying for and winning a grant because doing so SAVED the district money because they didn’t buy the equipment and the new equipment reduces labor costs.
Mr. or Ms. Rainbow, you’re wrong. The district did pay for the machines. In fact Avery Wang did a public records request and has the check log and the payment order. I’ve seen them. I know you’re trying to downplay this waste of money to stave off reforms. But you shouldn’t lie. Wang literally has the receipts.
By paying 4x the market price for the sushi machines? Tge per student spending has increased $88% from $18k to $34k in the last 10 years and enrollment is dropping and property taxes comtinue to go up. The issue is lack of financial management. They really want to tax you more, but managing their budget responsibly is not a priority. Start by reducing the number of administrators.