Message from Interim Superintendent Maurice Ghysels: Aug. 16, 2024

Dear PUSD community,

A significant focus for us this year will be the fiscal challenges and budget reductions facing our community. Districts across the State are facing similar challenges, and we’ll be sharing more information so our community has a shared understanding of where we are and how we are addressing budget reductions with a focus on students.

Our Budget Advisory Committee, composed of families, staff and community members had their first meeting of the school year on Tuesday, August 13. This dedicated group was formed last May and has spent hours learning how funding works (or doesn’t) for Pleasanton schools, our current fiscal challenges and evaluating how and what difficult budget reduction decisions can be made. Their input will inform the difficult but necessary decisions ahead of us. I encourage you to learn more about this committee's important work.

The State uses an equity-based formula to allocate funding to school districts. This means that California provides funding to a certain base level per student in the classroom and then additional funds are given to Districts with higher need (low income families, english learners, foster youth). This is an admirable concept, but it means that Pleasanton receives the same level of funding per student regardless of how much local property taxes go up - which is not sufficient to support the excellent academic programs that draw families to our community. And since the funding we do receive is based on the number of students in classrooms, when enrollment goes down funding goes with it.

This is exactly what happened to districts across the state after the COVID pandemic - PUSD’s enrollment has dropped over 1,000 students in the last five years. And while the pandemic brought increases in funding that was used to create programs and additional support for students, those funds are now going away - yet our students still need the same level of support. And while all of us have experience with inflation every time we pay our electricity bill or buy groceries, California’s annual cost of living increase was just over 1%.

School finances are incredibly complicated - and I have not captured the whole picture. To help our community understand where we are, how we got here and where we’re going, PUSD will be sharing a series of short videos, graphics and presentations in the coming weeks and months. I encourage you to engage and ask questions throughout this process.

My Best,

Maurice Ghysels, Ed.D.
Interim Superintendent of Schools