At its June 23 meeting, SBUSD approved over $175,000 in salary increases for central office administrators — including confidential and management staff — during one of the worst fiscal downturns in district history. These “me too” raises were quietly included in a budget already projecting a $69 million cumulative deficit and a collapsed reserve fund now sitting far below the legal minimum.
Let’s be clear: these are not union employees. These are non-represented administrative staff, many in cabinet-adjacent roles, the very leadership layer that families have repeatedly asked the board to scrutinize. And they received raises while paraeducators, teachers, and counselors were given layoff notices.
At the same time, the district reports that 67 percent of high school students are performing well below grade level in math, and schools continue to operate under deteriorating physical conditions. Our facilities are crumbling, roofs leak, systems fail and yet, there’s still room in the budget for top-tier executive raises.
This isn’t personal. It’s about priorities. When a district is financially failing, academically underperforming, and cutting frontline educators while the Superintendent’s office has grown 68 percent in cost over five years, it’s fair and necessary to ask: where is the leadership?
The cost of these administrative raises could fund a paraeducator, dismissal period supervision, or basic student supports. That’s not just a math problem that’s a values problem.
If SBUSD wants to restore public trust, it must stop shielding top administrators from the very sacrifices it’s demanding from classrooms. This is about integrity and integrity starts with being honest about who gets paid, who gets cut, and who’s left behind.
