The budget, project completion and reports were discussed at the new Superintendent Bree Valla’s first Los Banos Unified School District (LBUSD) School Board meeting on June 11.
“We are deficit spending a little bit,” Melanie Marcella reported. Marcella, director of fiscal services, explained that the proposed 2026–2027 budget contains $178.4 million in unrestricted revenue and $179.1 million in unrestricted expenses with a $15.8 million starting reserve.
Marcella explained that $121 million alone goes to payroll in the district. She also noted that the unrestricted budget doesn’t account for one-time funds, such as grants or their expenses.
Much of the budget remained static compared to 2025–2026, only adding on consumer price index increases, Marcella said. The proposed amount for services is $20.8 million, $11.8 million for books and supplies and $3.8 for capital projects. The board had no questions and is expected to adopt the budget on June 17.
Facilities and Special Projects Manager Sherry Munday filed the completion of the Early Education Center, Volta Elementary’s modernization, new fire alarms at Los Banos Junior High, and Miano Elementary’s new restroom at the meeting. “This has been long coming,” Board President Anthony Parreira said.
With those projects ending, the Los Banos High Modernization is in “full swing” according to Munday. The old attendance office was just demolished along with parts of the school’s quad area.
The K wing has begun roofing work, and the locker room drainage is getting refurbished. As part of the agenda, Teter Architects received $307,920 more for their work on the project.
The bid for the Pacheco High artificial turf field went to Bothman Construction for $2.2 million. Munday expects them to be finished by Sept. 20.
As part of the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) report, Dan Sutton, director of secondary education, reported on various goals of the district.
Board Member Dayna Valadao asked why there had been a noticeable drop in third-grade literature performance. Sutton explained that methods of teaching have recently changed, and a temporary fallback is to be expected.
Valadao also asked how the district planned to support teachers in the implementation of the new learning methods. Sutton explained that the plan was to have teachers mentor each other on the new methods.
In addition, she asked about the decline in English Learner (EL) performance. Director of EL Services Caroline Moreno explained that many of the best-performing ELs have been reclassified, causing a drop in the EL population within the district from 27 to 23 percent.
Board Member Lori Gattuso explained that she’d like to see Crossroads courses become accredited and follow state high school graduation requirements.
“There’s kids that maybe it’s their junior year, (and) they’ve got all their A-G (requirements) their freshman and sophomore year, but now they’ve had some kind of crisis, and they need to go on independent study, and now their A-G just goes down the tubes,” she said.
Sutton explained that Crossroads is being restructured for that purpose.
Valla thanked school sites for being “incredibly welcoming” to her visits right at the end of the school year. She also had the honor of certifying the graduation of nine graduates of the Los Banos Adult School class of 2026 at the beginning of the meeting.
The class of nine walked down the Pacheco High Theatre walkways to “Pomp and Circumstance” before receiving their diplomas on the stage.
The meeting was not held in the Los Banos City Hall due to renovations. The next school board meeting is expected to be held in the city hall, as renovations are scheduled to be completed on July 1.
