Marshall: Los Banos Unified School District taking on the challenges placed before us

By now, we are all deeply impacted by COVID-19. In fact, the emergence of the viral pandemic has triggered a fundamental shift in how Los Banos Unified School District operates. In that sense, we are not unique. COVID-19 has dramatically impacted the daily lives of all members of our community.

The irony of this situation is that, within this change, we have found opportunities to connect differently and, sometimes, in more meaningful ways. Families are spending more time together; old acquaintances are reconnecting by Zoom and Facetime calls. Board games and puzzles have enjoyed a rebirth as we confront a “new normal.” We are finding a new normal in our schools as well—particularly as it relates to our finances.

The manner in which the entire district family —teachers, staff, students and parents — have addressed this situation has been encouraging to watch and much appreciation is due. Teachers have grown as they have had to rapidly adopt new approaches with distance learning, just like their students.

During this time, our food services team has remained busy at work continuing to serve more than 150,000 meals that our students depend on. District staff continues to pay vendors, manage our physical assets and conduct business as a government entity with a publicly accountable board of trustees.

All of these activities are occurring very differently than they were only a few months ago. One key element that has not changed, however, is our commitment to the taxpayers that entrust us to carefully manage their tax dollars. It is no surprise that COVID-19 has created a new challenge financially for the district. Fortunately, current revenues are being maintained by the state despite the pandemic. That said, it is unwise to assume that this situation will last forever because it is clearly not sustainable to do so in perpetuity.

The pandemic will have impacts on overall enrollment trends, but at this point we are unclear how those changes will affect us. For these reasons, we are operating as carefully as we can — so that we are able to weather this storm financially and continue providing a world-class education to our students.

During the COVID-19 crisis, more than 26.5 million jobs have been lost so far — the highest rate of unemployment since the Great Depression. The sheer number of businesses that have closed will have an inevitable and dramatic impact on tax revenues to the state and there is no way that this can avoid impacting California school budgets.

We are proud of the cautious actions our district is taking now. We have held the line on expenses, even as we have invested funds received from the Measure X Bond issuance to fund important site improvements and build the new Grasslands Elementary to alleviate overcrowding without additional tax increases.

We are holding true to that promise. In order to keep the promise made, the district can only access the Measure X revenues in phases. With the opening of Grasslands and the soon-to-be-added classrooms to Pacheco High School, we are beginning to see those funds in action.

Going forward, we must maintain this fiscal discipline. This will inevitably mean careful decision-making. We must weigh cost and expenses carefully. We must ensure that we are “rightsizing” our district operations to the needs of our students.

I am proud that we have been able to do that and appreciate the support and engagement of all of our partners and stakeholders in that regard. Now more than ever, we may be social distancing, but we are not alone in this effort.