Shay Lawson
THERMAL, Calif. (KESQ) – Getting answers as the Coachella Valley Unified School District faces $25.4 million in budget reductions. A fiscal stabilization plan to address shortfalls at the CVUSD.
As we reported earlier this month, district leaders say the plan will be phased in over three years, and they’re working to minimize impacts to the classroom while also restoring long term financial stability.
“Any time there are cuts in a budget, especially as they affect the livelihood of certain employees, it’s very difficult,” said CVUSD Superintendent Dr. Frances Esparza.
CVUSD’s plan includes multiyear reductions of $25.4 million — $9.4 million in 2026–27, $8 million in 2027–28, and $8 million in 2028–29.
“It’s recommended by our county office and it’s also required to have a multiyear for every school district throughout California,” Esparza said.
And what will be the impact?
“We have approximately 29 to 30 staff members that’ll be reduced in the district versus last year, where we had close to 250. We are looking at a cut in some of our mental health services program. We’re going to be looking for grants and different ways to ensure that, you know, our services continue,” Esparza said.
“How are we guaranteeing that these cuts aren’t going to affect the classroom?” News Channel 3’s Shay Lawson asked Esparza.
Esparza answered, “So ensuring that the cuts are not going to affect the classroom started with those who are working with the staff members. And so I do know that some of the staff that is actually being removed, some of them are vacancies, some of them are overage, in certain departments.”
State officials are also weighing in, like local Assemblymember Jeff Gonzalez.
“Here’s the reality of this. We need to get an audit inside of there. We need to see every single line item that’s going on because if they were trying to go this route, they failed,” Gonzalez said.
But Esparza says the joint legislative audit committee did not see a need for a state audit.
Shay asked Gonzalez how he’s helping the district navigate the deficits.
“Step one was after I saw the school board meeting and heard the account from the FCMAT personnel, I said, we’re not telling the whole story. So we wanted to make sure that we showed links to where they can find the information,” Gonzalez said.
The account from the fiscal crisis and management assistance team, or “FCMAT,” reported no immediate cash flow concerns and commended the district’s efforts to restore long-term fiscal stability.
FCMAT Presentation_2.12.26Download
As the district braces for the cuts, Esparza assures that her team is working to protect students.
“We made cuts and we offered options to the board where we would make sure that we weren’t, again, you know, putting our hand in the classroom and taking anything away from them. So they’re still going to receive the best instructional services, They’re still going to receive the mental health and social emotional services that are required by every district to provide,” Esparza said.
On Thursday, Assemblymember Jeff Gonzalez wrote an OP-ED on the Desert Sun titled “CVUSD is headed toward financial disaster. Families deserve better.”
CVUSD Superintendent Dr. Frances Esparza replied in a statement to News Channel 3:
The request was for a FCMAT Audit. We were afforded the opportunity by the Riverside County Office of Education to avoid paying for an FCMAT Audit. The results of the FCMAT Audit were presented to the Board of Education at last week’s Board Meeting, and the district was commended for its progress in such a short time.
In addition, Mr. Gonzalez never reached out to meet with me regarding finances. Nor has he mentioned the academic gains in CVUSD, or highlighted CVUSD in any of his comments. He has been invited to several events highlighting our students and the great work happening in CVUSD, but he has never attended. We would love him to support the students and families of CVUSD. We would appreciate advocacy for state funding for Schools so we can give our staff raises, we would appreciate his advocacy for State funding to lower class sizes, we would like for him to advocate for State funding for our Students with Special Needs, we would like for him to provide scholarship opportunities for our students, and to work on creating affordable housing for our staff. That’s what the families and students in CVUSD need from their politicians. We would appreciate his help and support.
I want to inform you that the Joint Legislative Audit Committee did not see the need for a State Audit, as I shared our finances with them and explained, in a hearing, why there would be significant cuts. I also responded to all of the Assemblyman Gonzalez’s questions and provided those responses to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee. I explained clearly that the Covid funds, known as ESSER funds, were no longer being provided to the district, and that the positions funded by those funds remained intact, resulting in a significant budget deficit. This major deficit caused the layoffs in June 2025, and they should have happened years earlier under the previous leadership. Several districts, like LAUSD, Pasadena, Oakland, Hayward, Ventura, Santa Ana, are just a few that are experiencing the same challenges. However, we have taken actionable steps toward fiscal solvency that will take 2 to 3 years to right-size the district.
Gonzalez said that he has reached out to CVUSD to discuss the district’s finances but never received a response.
Stay with News Channel 3 for continuing updates.
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