Pacifica Board Pulls Admin Pay Item as Unions Decry 'Double Standard'

The Pacifica School District board pulled a contested management and confidential employee compensation item before its Sept. 30, 2026, meeting began. Teacher and classified union leaders still spent much of the evening calling it a breach of trust. Trustees then unanimously adopted a revised budget, hired a new special education director and celebrated every school earning PBIS Gold status. The district is navigating fiscal oversight, planned job cuts, declining enrollment and a parcel tax renewal.

• Item 11C pulled: Unions call proposed admin raises a "glaring, unacceptable double standard" amid 13 planned job cuts.

• Revised 2026-27 budget adopted 4-0, with contract reduction and recruitment plans still to come.

• Parents and unions push to widen the Budget Collaborative or replace it with a Brown Act committee.

• Hannah Jara hired as special education director at $172,636 as counselor and co-teaching concerns mount.

• Every district school moves from PBIS silver to gold, and staff report 8.6% fewer disciplinary incidents.

• Enrollment slips to 2,473, and trustees call for a long-term plan.

Admin Pay Pulled, but Union Anger Stays

1 big thing: The board's presiding officer moved to approve the agenda with Item 11C removed. The item covered confidential employees and LSMEA meet-and-confers, plus the related AB 1200 disclosure. No trustee discussed it afterward. Union leaders used the communications portion of the meeting to make sure it didn't disappear quietly.

Why it matters: The district is preparing staff cuts under fiscal oversight while still negotiating with teachers. Both bargaining units framed management raises as a test of the district's priorities, just as the Measure T parcel tax renewal heads to voters.

Where things stand: Meghann Elsbernd, president of the Laguna Salada Education Association (LSEA), said the union was glad the item was pulled. She was surprised, however, that the district would advance admin raises before reaching a teacher agreement.

"The SARC report last year reported that a mid-range teacher in Pacifica is 28% below the state average, where our principals are only 7% below state average," said Meghann. She added that Pacifica teachers rank 26th of 26 San Mateo County districts at the beginning, middle and top of the salary schedule.

CSEA Chapter 128's officers delivered a joint statement. Ortega Nicole, CSEA Chapter 128 Second Vice President, and Tiffany Hanna, CSEA Chapter 128 First Vice President, said the proposal "creates a glaring, unacceptable double standard for our community."

"The district is preparing to eliminate 13 FTE positions before the beginning of the 27-28 school year just to stay afloat," the CSEA statement said. The officers noted that most of the affected administrators were hired this July.

"How can this board even justify giving across-the-board increases to recent hires in our already highest paid positions?" they asked. They also said some classified positions start below the legal minimum wage and urged the board to settle LSEA's contract first. No board member responded on the record.

The other side: Not all union commentary was critical. Kelly Edelhart, LSEA Vice President and a fourth-grade teacher at Valdemar, credited the board. "It feels like a good show of faith to wait on settling with management ahead of certificated staff," she said.

Public commenter Stan Martin added that members of the summer cleaning crew work two or more jobs.

Decisions and stakeholder impacts: Pulling 11C defers management pay changes. It does not resolve them. Teachers and classified staff gain leverage in bargaining. Administrators hired this summer face continued scrutiny. The board now carries the political risk of revisiting the item during a parcel tax campaign that LSEA is actively promoting. That campaign funds counselors, library media technicians and fifth-grade outdoor education.

What's next: No return date for 11C was announced. LSEA said it is still waiting for the district to document its claim that the fiscal oversight team recommended the Budget Collaborative process.

Budget Adopted; Fight Shifts to Who Sets Cuts

Where things stand: The board adopted the revised 2026-27 budget (For: 4, Against: 0). The budget presenter, identified as Chuck, said the revision mainly added documents. "The core of the report remains the same. The numbers have not changed," he said. The cash flow, multiyear plan and roughly 40 pages of assumptions now begin on page 76. No trustee asked questions.

Superintendent Carisa J. Bowman presented the first fiscal stabilization plan update. She said the plan will be revised as the budget advances and as the Budget Collaborative delivers its recommendations. The Collaborative held its first meeting Sept. 24.

Why it matters: The Collaborative's recommendations will shape staffing cuts. The fight over its membership is effectively a fight over who influences those choices.

The other side: Public commenter Grace Sobieski said no notes from the first Collaborative meeting appear on the district website. She also said Chuck got 20 minutes for a budget presentation that normally runs 40. She questioned the district's "staff to enrollment" messaging, pointing to Cabrillo third-grade classes of 22, 23 and 14 students.

Public commenter Tarra Knotts said past collaboratives with one or two parents and teachers per site failed. She urged the district to "form a formal Brown Act compliant budget advisory committee so that there is minutes, there is recordings." The Brown Act is California's open meetings law. She also warned of what cuts could mean in classrooms. "You look like you are cutting staff. I'm guessing that means you'll end up with split grades," she said.

CSEA asked that union leadership, special education staff, parents and community members be added before the Collaborative's next meeting. "I think it would be helpful also to have somebody from special ed maybe attend those meetings," said a trustee. Another trustee asked whether unions already have a seat. "Both vice presidents of LSEA and CSEA are on the current Budget Collaborative committee," replied a district official.

What's next: Future agenda items will add a contract reduction action plan and a recruitment plan to the fiscal stabilization plan.

New Special Ed Director Inherits Strained System

Where things stand: The board approved hiring Hannah Jara, currently the district's program coordinator for special education, as Director of Special Education and Student Services. The motion passed, but the tally was not announced.

Rachel Romo, Director of Human Services, read the contract terms:

• Term of Sept. 28, 2026, to June 30, 2027

• Step D4 salary of $172,636, plus a $1,000 master's stipend

• A 261-workday year

• $150 a month for mileage

Why it matters: Earlier in the meeting, Rachel Marlow, teacher at Ingrid B. Lacey Middle School (IBL), described IBL's counseling coverage. The school has "the part-time counselor who has only been given a 26-hour-a-week contract for a school of 640 students," she said, plus a YSB counselor two days a week. She added that "only 9 out of the 23 district administrators are actually on school sites."

The other side: Tara Knotts praised Jara's responsiveness. She also described IBL students struggling after moving from RSP services into co-taught math, along with the loss of intervention apps and gaps for students whose IEPs cover only speech. She pointed to the Los Altos School District's Santa Rita therapeutic special day class as a model. She also criticized the board's tone. "We couldn't even get through this meeting without some defensive comments," she said.

Decisions and stakeholder impacts: Families get a permanent special education lead with district history. Jara starts with documented counseling and co-teaching gaps at the district's largest school. "I'm a teacher first, and I'm very student-centered," said Jara.

Every School Reaches PBIS Gold

Where things stand: Shannon Lane, Student Services Coordinator, explained Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS). It is a proactive, schoolwide behavior framework with targeted Tier 2 and Tier 3 support delivered through COST teams. Lane reported that 95% of Tier 1 students improved, Tier 2 students showed roughly 85% growth and disciplinary incidents fell 8.6% districtwide. "As a result, district-wide, all of our schools went from silver to gold, which is great," she said.

Principals and students from five campuses presented their programs: Cabrillo, IBL, Ortega, the Sunset Ridge and Ocean Shore Inverness campus, and Valdemar. "Every time we have a conflict, we have trained staff that actually create restorative circles," said Guillaume Jean, Principal, Ingrid B. Lacey Middle School.

The other side: During public comment, Tara Knotts dissented. "I have a kid who was really harmed by reward systems," she said. She argued that students can achieve without external rewards.

Enrollment Dips to 2,473

Where things stand: Hannah Jara reported total 2026-27 enrollment of 2,473. Decline continues, though less steeply than in the prior two years, and TK enrollment is growing. All lottery participants except three TK students received their first-choice school. An online lottery system is nearly ready for 2027-28.

Why it matters: Enrollment drives funding. One trustee works in a neighboring district that will decide in February whether to close one or two schools. "We need to address the long-term enrollment instead of putting a Band-Aid on it every single year through the budget collaborative," said the trustee. Another trustee noted the district once enrolled 10,000 students.

The other side: Public commenter Drew Schmenner cited 2,478 students. He said that figure is 18 below the low projection in King Associates' 2024 demographic analysis. "I believe it's a community's lack of trust in the district," he said. He pointed to a nearly $45,000 Measure G marquee at the Inverness campus that he said has never worked.

Stan Martin called IBL's field hazardous. The presiding officer asked the superintendent to follow up.

What's next: A trustee asked how much of the decline comes from smaller incoming classes versus families leaving. Jara will follow up. Sobieski asked whether departing families are being surveyed.

• Textbooks: Sufficiency resolution approved without Health Connect 5th- and 7th-grade books, pending review of LSEA concerns. The tally was not announced.

• Labor MOUs: Three passed 4-0: a Prop 28-funded music teacher signing incentive, support for a Sunset Ridge class over 33 students and CSEA pay for mandatory training.

• Heritage months: LGBTQ+ and Filipino American History Month resolutions passed 4-0, authorizing LGBTQ+ campus banners.

• Tech policy: First read of BP 6163.4 adds AI privacy rules. Yonder phone pouches are targeted for rollout by winter break.

• Consent agenda: Passed 4-0 after a trustee dropped a request to discuss an Illuminated contract.

Looking ahead: An amended textbook resolution covering Health Connect is expected to return in late October. BP 6163.4 will come back for adoption, and CAASPP results are due on a future agenda. The Pacifica Education Foundation, which raises roughly $170,000 a year, holds Donation Days Nov. 16–18.