As part of the budget reduction process, district staff gathered input from stakeholders in several ways. They met with family groups at the listening sessions, Key Communicators (parents and family engagement liaisons), Superintendent's Student Cabinet (students from each middle and high school), and the district Budget Advisory Committee (parents and staff). The district also gathered budget priorities through a districtwide survey open to anyone who wanted to share their thoughts. The themes gathered through each effort are summarized below.
The Budget Advisory Committee is one of several standing district committees made up of parents/guardians and staff, including labor organization representatives. The parent/guardian members are volunteers who attended the selection meeting in the fall and were selected by fellow parents/guardians in attendance at that meeting. They meet several times a year to learn about and review budget-related content. Their budget priorities for 2024-25 included:
One way the district gathered budget-related thoughts and values from people was through an online survey, which allowed participants to prioritize 9 categories and share ideas additional ways to reduce spending. Students, staff, families and community members were invited to participate from Feb. 1-11, and it was available in many languages.
You can see the survey results below. The top priorities for most groups were individual supports for students, mental and behavioral support and curriculum. The comments were left out as some were personal in nature, but all comments were reviewed by staff.
Notes about this year's budget reductions:
Notes about next year’s budget priorities:
The Key Communicator group is made up of parents and guardians from each school and included the family engagement liaisons. They meet monthly to learn about the district and offer input and ask questions. Their input about the budget included:
The Superintendent's Student Cabinet includes representatives from each middle and high school in the district. As they discussed the budget situation, the themes that arose included: