Superintendent's Weekly Update

February 27, 2026

Team PUSD,

Thank you for your continued partnership and commitment to our students, families, and one another. I appreciate the professionalism and care you bring to your work each day. Below are a few key updates from this week’s Board of Education meeting.

At the meeting, we reviewed our mid-year progress on the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP). We are seeing steady growth across all three LCAP goals: safe and inclusive schools, expanded learning opportunities, and strong family engagement. Most actions are fully implemented, and data show positive movement in areas such as chronic absenteeism, graduation and college and career readiness, and parent engagement. Updated family feedback reflects a strong foundation in engagement, while also identifying opportunities to strengthen communication.

The Board also agreed to pause consideration of a General Obligation Bond until 2028. This timeline allows us to continue strengthening our financial position and build deeper community trust before asking voters to consider a future bond measure.

Poway Unified has partnered with Public Agency Retirement Services (PARS) to offer a voluntary Supplementary Retirement Plan (SRP) for eligible employees. The program would provide a tax-qualified annuity equal to 80 percent of a participant’s final year salary, paid over five years. We can only proceed for each employee group if participation thresholds are met. PARS will manage communication, enrollment, and administration, and eligible employees will be hearing directly from them soon.

These are just a few highlights from this week’s meeting. For more information, please review the Board Brief. The next regular Board of Education meeting will be held on Thursday, March 12 at 6:00 p.m.

Thank you again for your partnership and dedication. If you have questions about anything shared here, feel free to reach out through your leadership channels.

With gratitude,

Ben

On the latest episode of Straight from the Supe, Associate Superintendent of Business Support Services Eric Dill provides an update on the district’s budget and financial goals.

Watch or listen on your favorite podcast platform!

Rancho Bernardo High School student Olivia Xia was nominated for the second consecutive year in the annual student performing arts competition Spotlight held by The Music Center in Los Angeles. Olivia competed in the Classical Voice category, earning a semifinalist nomination. The awards saw 1,300 students competing.

Spotlight semifinalists will audition once more with a new panel of judges before 14 Grand Prize Finalists are announced in March and go on to perform at The Music Center’s Spotlight Grand Finale. We wish Olivia the best of luck in these final stages of the competition!

Adobe Bluffs Elementary students rang in Lunar New Year on Thursday, celebrating the Year of the Horse, which symbolizes energy, resilience, and progress! School staff and students, and community members enjoyed student performances promoting cultural awareness around the annual celebration.

What can AI do? What can’t it do? Studio 701 asked attendees at PUSD’s Family Engagement Night event, Learning in the Age of AI. And despite the promise of AI, some young attendees are certain there are still a number of things that the technology can't do. Watch the video on Instagram.

Want to learn what AI can do in our classrooms? Check out the panel discussion of the event.

National Foundation for Autism Research (NFAR) has announced five Poway Unified teachers are recipients of its 2025 Teacher grants to support their work to enhance learning for our students: Julie-Anne Zimmer, Garden Road Elementary; Becky O’Day, District Office; Hye Sim Chung, Adobe Bluffs Elementary School; Sin Yi Mak, Creekside Elementary; and Katelyn Odom, Painted Rock Elementary. Congratulations to these amazing educators!

The PUSD Board of Education has approved an agreement on a Supplementary Early Retirement Plan (SERP) for all employee bargaining units. The SERP would provide participating Certificated Non-Management, Certificated Management, Certificated Specialists, Classified Non-Management and Confidential, and Classified Supervisory employees with a tax-qualified annuity that equals 80% of their final base annual salary. This annuity is paid over a five-year period.

Eligible employees can expect to receive personalized packets by mail next week that explains the program and benefits, contact information and details on upcoming meeting opportunities.

You’ll notice a new email hitting your inboxes next week. The weekly staff newsletter will now be sent out on Wednesdays to all PUSD staff and educators. This will help minimize the update emails received for some of our colleagues on Fridays.

Expect news and updates specifically for everyone here at Team PUSD, and special shoutouts of our amazing educators and school sites.

• Employment Opportunities
• New Student Enrollment
• Board Meeting Agenda and Minutes
• District Calendars

• March 4, 2026 - CTE Career Speaker Series: Innovators & Builders (Register)

Click here for the full calendar.