At a jam packed, sometimes raucous meeting, the Palo Alto Unified School District Board of Education voted at its Feb. 10 meeting to reverse a district management decision to cut elementary reading specialists, copy technicians and other support staff positions for the 2026-2027 school year.
The meeting was packed with teachers, students, parents and community members, many of whom spoke in public session to support the staff who were facing layoffs. The comments sparked heated discussion about the priorities and values of the district, and how to best handle the district’s budget, with district administrators painting a dark view of PAUSD’s finances if these cuts didn’t pass, while opponents of the cuts accused the district of exaggerating its numbers to force contract concessions for the teacher’s union.
Budget restrictions create challenges
During the meeting, PAUSD Chief Business Officer Cheren Yu said the district budget will reflect future needs.
“We are rebuilding the budget from the ground up to reflect current realities to help surface outdated or low value spending and redirect dollars to high impact work,” Yu said. “The decision will be driven by priorities and outcomes, not history or convenience.”
According to Yu, the projected ongoing savings are between $2.5 and $2.8 million, acknowledging that those increases do not fully absorb the increased cost pressures outside the district such as utilities and medical insurance.
Paly Literacy Teacher on Special Assignment and English Learner Specialist Kindel Launer said the district does need to address its budget but should do so in a thoughtful manner.
“Budgets are a reality,” Launer said. “So the real question is, what is the most effective delivery model?”
Meg Williams, an English Learner Specialist at Escondido Elementary School, said teachers did not have a say in the board’s decision which sparked the large turnout at the meeting.
“If it really was about budget, why don’t we have an exit strategy so we could make this as seamless as possible?” Williams said. “How can we have the least impact on students? We were just totally left out of the conversation.”
Launer said these kinds of hard conversations are necessary for improving the district.
“There is as much potential, if we are hopeful, to see some kind of instruction that is incredibly innovative,” Launer said. “There is nothing like a budget deficit to force innovation.”
Cuts cause long term concerns
Since reading specialists target instruction in small groups for students working to improve their reading skills, Launer said these positions play an important role.
“It is vitally important that children learn to read,” Launer said. “And our specialists are a huge part of that effort when a child is struggling to read. The specialists for language learning are really critical as well, because vocabulary is a barrier to access to the curriculum.”
During the meeting, PAUSD board member Shana Segal agreed.
“(Reading specialists) bring specialized preparation applied directly to improving student outcomes,” Segal said “When we reduce that capacity, I worry we are not just shifting staffing, we are reducing access to preparation.”
Board member Alison Kamhi agreed and said the proposed cuts did not reflect the district values of investing in students who may fall below grade level.
“In the PAUSD Promise, we talk specifically about elementary education and making sure to devote resources to struggling students,” Kamhi said. “Our reading scores are something to brag about.”
Kamhi also said at the meeting that any district management’s budget proposals should not have a negative impact on students.
“I know that this budget reflects a restructuring at the elementary level, and my concern is student centered,” Kamhi said. “I worry students will lose services and that that will impact student learning and student outcome.”
Executive Vice President of Palo Alto Special Education PTA Mirabel Ramirez spoke against the proposed cuts and said it is vital to have specialists to provide resources to underperforming students
“We need specialists who have the training, the knowledge (and) the expertise who can provide the services to English learners and kids who need reading support,” Ramirez said. “That can put them in a position where they feel capable, where they feel comfortable, and where they can achieve just as their peers.”
For Launer, another concern is unsupported students may fall behind.
“I am concerned that we will have students arriving (at middle and high school) with some gaps,” Launer said. “At the same time, I have real faith in my teaching colleagues that they will rise up to the challenge of the broader needs in their classrooms.”
Community defends copy technicians
In addition to cuts to elementary reading specialists and support staff, district management also proposed cuts to the copy technician’ position, one at each high school.
Many teachers and students rallied in support of copy technicians. Currently, the role consists of printing tests and homework, prioritizing printing requests, handling machine maintenance and making deliveries to teachers in all departments. Segal said the removal of this position has an instructional impact.
“When their support is removed, instructional time shifts away from teaching and toward logistics and students bear that cost.”
Paly copy technician Veronica Rodriguez said her position enables teachers to spend more time on students.
“We help the educators,” Rodriguez said. “Teachers rely on the technicians because they do a lot of work on paper and those papers end up in students’ hands. So we contribute to students’ education, even though we are not teachers.”
During an open forum at the meeting, economics teacher Eric Bloom said he values the copy technicians’ behind the scenes efforts to help him prioritize paper classwork.
“I use pencil and paper for practice problems, for notes, (and) for games. I want students to slow down and physically write,” Bloom said. “It engages their minds deeply and helps learning.”
Without copy technicians, it is up to teachers to work the machines.
“When too many hands are on the machines, the machines get broken more often, it’s more errors and more work to be done,” Rodriguez said.
Most of all, Rodriguez said she has noticed how impactful and beneficial her job is to students and teachers.
“All (aspects of) this job, I do them with passion because I really love my job,” Rodriguez said. “I love working with teachers and contributing to the students’ education.”
And Bloom said Rodriguez’s work is vital for teachers to run classrooms smoothly.
“We need – I need Rodriguez’s support,” Bloom said. “The value and support she offers makes me a better teacher and makes my students smarter.”
Chief Business Officer Charen Yu said she would agree to an interview only if The Campanile sent her the questions ahead of time and also said her answers would be reviewed by district spokesperson Lynette White. While The Campanile does not normally share questions with sources ahead of time, because we thought getting Yu’s side of the story was important, we agreed. As of press time, neither Yu nor White has responded to the questions submitted.
