10-30-25 SBAC Concludes Work

PASADENA, CA – The Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) Superintendent’s Budget Advisory Committee (SBAC) held its final meeting yesterday, concluding months of challenging and collaborative work to recommend school-based budget reductions for the 2026-2027 school year.

Formed to ensure community input, transparency, and shared decision-making, the SBAC is made up of parents, students, educators, employees, labor partners, and community members who have worked together since September to review the district’s financial outlook and consider sustainable solutions. The committee’s work is part of eight concurrent workstreams, including central office services and contracts, identifying $30-$35 million in reductions as part of PUSD’s overall Fiscal Stabilization Plan (FSP), which addresses structural deficits driven by declining enrollment, rising costs, and state and federal funding constraints.

PUSD has been working to stabilize the district’s fiscal health for the past three years, putting into effect FSPs:

• In 2024-25, PUSD reduced $13.8 million, with the majority from central office operations, trimming administrative positions and support services while protecting classrooms.

• In 2025-26, PUSD convened the first Superintendent’s Budget Advisory Committee (SBAC), which brought broad community input, helped shape thoughtful, student-centered decisions, and identified options for $5 million more in central office reductions. PUSD also implemented staffing ratios in line with contractual guidelines, with additional savings, while continuing to shield students from the full impact of budget pressures. Although the district had initially planned to make $27-28 million in reductions for the 2026-27 year, the Eaton fire made such major reductions untenable.

• For the 2026-27 year, PUSD is faced with $30-35 million in reductions. The district reconvened the SBAC to review and prioritize options for reducing school-based services by up to $20 million. Work on seven other workstreams occurred simultaneously to identify the remaining reductions/revenue, including central office and contracts.

The committee has reviewed presentations across all school-based services as part of its work to identify sustainable reductions. Areas considered include safety services; student services; career technical education; coaching and student support services; athletics; family engagement and health programs; technology support; Superintendent’s Zone schools; school administration; clerical; special programs; custodial; and gardening.

This process reflects the deep care and difficult tradeoffs involved in balancing fiscal responsibility with the district’s ongoing commitment to students, employees, and families.

“This has not been easy, but it has been honest, transparent, and rooted in our shared values,” said PUSD Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco. “We have a moral imperative and a responsibility to remain fiscally solvent for children in our schools today and for our students in the future. We are facing one of the most challenging fiscal moments in our district’s history, yet our community has come together with courage and compassion to protect what matters most: our students. I am deeply grateful to every SBAC member for their integrity, empathy, and dedication to PUSD.”

Please see the committee’s ranking of funding priorities, resulting in a prioritized list of services, posted at pusd.us/sbac (click on “meetings”). The recommendations are subject to modification based on an analysis of overall impacts at school sites and final action by the Board of Education.

PUSD remains committed to ensuring that classrooms remain places of learning, safety, and care, even as the district takes steps to stabilize its finances for the future. The SBAC’s recommendations will be presented to the Board of Education on November 13, 2025, followed by Board action on November 20, 2025. Implementation of approved reductions will begin in December 2025, with reduction-in-force notices issued in March 2026, and a new, balanced budget taking effect in July 2026.

Throughout the process, PUSD has prioritized transparency, participation, and respect for employees. All meeting materials, presentations, and updates are publicly available at www.pusd.us/sbac.

“While these decisions are painful, they also reflect our district’s commitment to doing what is right, openly, equitably, and with the needs of students at the center,” Superintendent Blanco added. “We will continue to engage our community every step of the way.”

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