Monday, August 25, 2025

Schools Superintendent Outlines Roadmap to Close $30 Million Budget Shortfall

Community advisory committee and nine workstreams will feed proposals to School Board for November decisions

The Pasadena Unified School District faces a projected budget shortfall of about $30 million this year, Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco told school families in a Friday night email, calling the situation “a serious and urgent challenge” that requires the community’s full attention.

Blanco attributed the gap to sharply rising costs — including employee health benefits, utilities, and property and liability insurance — combined with declining enrollment that reduces state funding tied to average daily attendance. She described the mismatch as a “structural imbalance” the District must address “strategically and proactively.”

To close the gap, the District has launched a multi-pronged Fiscal Stabilization Process, Blanco said. Workstreams include a Superintendent’s Budget Advisory Committee, special education efficiencies, grant maximization, central office reductions, contracts and procurement review, transportation analysis, asset management, and staffing and vacancy evaluations. Each area will be reviewed for savings while protecting “resources closest to our students,” Blanco wrote.

The advisory committee — comprising staff, community members and other stakeholders — will help prioritize reductions. Options will be grouped into three tiers based on their impact on student learning and school operations, then sent to the Board of Education for action, according to the email.

A companion slide deck prepared for the Aug. 28 Board meeting outlines the timeline: committee meetings in September and October; reduction options presented to the Board in November — including dates for a special meeting Nov. 13 and a regular meeting Nov. 20 — with implementation beginning in December.

A sample “Board Reductions Exercise” in the deck shows tiered choices and notes the Board would select enough options to reach the $30 million target.

The Aug. 28 meeting is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. in the Elbie J. Hickambottom Board Room, 351 S. Hudson Ave., Pasadena, according to the District’s notice included with the email.

“This is not simply a budgeting exercise,” Blanco wrote. “It is a critical opportunity to reshape how we serve students sustainably and effectively.”

She said the District will proceed with “transparency, collaboration, and a shared commitment to our students’ futures,” acknowledging “this will require difficult decisions.”