Thanks to “intentional” spending, deficit spending within Los Banos Unified School District (LBUSD) has been brought under control, Superintendent Bree Valla said.
In addition to the good news at the Sept. 10 meeting, the school board reviewed last year’s expenses, awarded $65,000 to design the new Los Banos High School Kiln Room, bought a Ford Expedition and heard reports.
Valla explained in her report, “We are really pausing and being intentional as far as our spending and trying to keep all of our spending local and doing work with our local businesses as much as possible, so that the entire community benefits from what we are doing here in town.”
Over the course of 2025-2026, LBUSD had an $8.9 million deficit, reported Director of Fiscal Services Melanie Marcella. She reported that the district had $222.3 million in income, with $234.7 million in expenses.
One of the contributing factors was the drop of 270 students from average daily attendance. “(That was) not a drop we wanted to see,” Marcella said. “That’s scary,” Board President Anthony Parreira said.
Parreira brought up the 2026-2027 budget to compare. Contrasting against the $8.9 million deficit, he said, “We have a 7.7 million (sur)plus (in 2026-2027). It’s nice to see that we’re maybe heading in the right direction and going to have we’re not deficit spending.”
“It’s been very refreshing working with Dr. Valla. We’re really looking at what we’re spending money on and saving where we can,” Marcella said.
Teter Architects was awarded $65,000 to design the new pottery kiln room for Los Banos High. According to the written report by Manager of Facilities and Special Projects Sherry Munday, the school will be getting one gas kiln and two electric kilns.
The estimated total cost is $327,000. The funds will be coming from Proposition 28 and the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP). Board Member Gene Lieb asked why the project is using electric kilns.
Valla explained, “The level of commitment that is required for the teaching staff is much higher than the electric, where basically, it’s much like our dishwasher. You turn it on, and then magically, you come back and everything’s ready to go . . . Only adults can operate (gas kilns).”
The 2027 Ford Expedition is being bought for $64,001.24 from Santos Ford. According to Pacheco High School’s Principal Rebecca Salinas’ report, the vehicle will be used by their ag department “to safely and efficiently transport students to activities.”
Lieb praised the purchase, saying, “Thank you for shopping local because a lot of municipalities look for deals, and a lot of other (non-local) dealerships can wheel and deal.”
In her report, Valla announced that she’s begun doing 3-on-1 meetings she calls “Sipping with the Supe,” where three principals and Valla informally meet over a cup of coffee.
“We sip our coffee and have informal opportunities for them to share with me what’s going well and what we can work on collectively, mixing our elementary leaders with our secondary leaders so everyone has an understanding of the different perspectives, and we stay unified as a district and see that we are all working collectively for our children,” Valla said.
At the end of the meeting, Parreira reported that during the closed session, they had accepted the resignation of the Chief Academic Officer Sean Richey. Richey was just hired as the superintendent of the Dos Palos Oro Loma Joint Unified School District last month.
The meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m. The next regular meeting is on Oct. 8.
