With a recent shakeup in leadership and efforts to put a bond measure on the November ballot that would provide housing for teachers, Live Oak School District is starting off the 2024 school year intent on restoring trust in light of recent controversies.
New district superintendent Patrick Sánchez has now taken the reins, seeking to turn things around and avoid more cuts amid enrollment declines at the district’s six schools.
The working 2025-26 budget calls for an additional $1.3 million in “salary reductions” if the district’s financial picture does not improve by next year.
“We are striving to have our district grow and successfully get the district into a positive financial situation,” Sánchez said in a recent email.
He is aiming to increase enrollment by developing “signature programming” at each school site and continue to work on initiatives like farm-to-table cooking to bolster interest from parents.
Hired after the acrimonious departure of previous superintendent Daisy Morales, Sánchez has over 25 years of administrative experience. Most recently, he was the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources at Morgan Hill Unified School District before starting at LOSD in July of this year.
However, Sánchez himself has been the subject of controversy. In 2016, he resigned from Adams County School District 14 in Colorado amidst calls for his resignation by a community group. In 2019, he resigned from the Newark Unified School District at the same time a wrongful termination lawsuit was filed against him and the district. There is no clear connection between the two matters. Sánchez has characterized the efforts to oust him as led by “disgruntled former employees.”
Now, he is tasked with keeping LOSD afloat as it recovers from financial woes while also stopping declining enrollment.
Bouncing Back
Earlier this year, Live Oak School District plunged into chaos when it was revealed that it was facing a multimillion-dollar budget deficit. Teachers and parents were blindsided by the announcement, which was made as the Live Oak School Board approved a 5% pay increase for superintendent Daisy Morales.
Morales was blamed for the mismanagement, and parents accused her of lack of transparency. In response, 1,700 people signed a petition calling for her removal. In March, Morales resigned and was given one year’s salary of $228,900 per her contract as severance pay.
Morales was hired as superintendent of the Santa Rosa City Schools in June at a salary of $261,537. LOSD parents asked at the June 26 board meeting if she would return her severance. “A second Live Oak parent agreed and also voiced their concerns on the school sites having limited recess coach and yard duties, due to limited funds,” according to the meeting’s minutes.
The Negative Certification
At the center of the crisis was a “negative certification” from the County Office of Education (COE) in January. This was caused by a “holistic” evaluation of the district’s finances by the COE.
In May, Morales accused the COE in a letter to the Live Oak community of rushing to decertify the district.
“The district was behind in cash reconciliation but the cash was in the bank,” Morales wrote.
LOSD projected only having $200,000 on hand at the end of 2025, below the 3% cash reserve mandated by the state, according to the COE’s rebuttal to Morales. The district ended up spending 73% of its general fund last year, according to the 2024-25 interim budget.
Nick Ibarra, director of communications at the COE, said that “low projected cash balances as well as projected deficit spending” were the cause of the negative certification as outlined in state law.
Currently, LOSD has a positive rating from the COE. However, the chief budget officer position is vacant. Since the COE decertified the district, there have been three budget chiefs. The most recent one, Angela Rodriguez, lasted for less than a month.
What Will Sánchez Do?
A Green Acres parent, Tammy Summers, who was involved in campaigning against Morales and was appointed to the board, supports Sánchez. She is running unopposed for the seat in November.
“He [Sánchez] is really digging deep into our financials and trying to see where we can cut money,” Summers said. “It’s a really warm welcome that he provides. He has an open door policy.”
Summers offered as an example the life lab manager position the district is looking to hire. Summers pulled the new hire from the consent agenda because she felt that there should be more public discussion before the district begins hiring people so soon after budget cuts.
Sánchez agreed with the move, she said. Then he addressed her concerns. Summers said the life lab position is now moving forward.
The position is “entirely funded” and accounted for out of restricted funds, according to Sánchez.
This is not always the case. When Sánchez looked through the books he found a $60,000 communications contract coming out of the general fund that he swiftly terminated.
“We must live within our means and always be ethical stewards of all public funds,” Sánchez said.
Bond Measures
In March, voters approved a $44 million infrastructure bond to update school facilities and fix instructure even as the district was engulfed in controversy and cutting staff.
LOSD is once again asking voters to approve a $45 million bond, $1 million more, for workforce housing in November.
Intertwined with the potential workforce housing has been the question of where non-profit Community Bridges would go if the housing was developed on the LOSD owned-site.
Last week Community Bridges signed a two-year lease with LOSD to stay at the Capitola Road location. However, any construction would most likely begin after, considering development timelines.
The quest to build workforce housing continues in one of the most expensive rental markets in the country.
“If we can’t raise salaries, we have to try and figure out a way to decrease staff’s expenses, and by having workforce housing, that’s one way to do it,” Summers said. “We can’t really put a measure out to increase salaries. I’d love to be able to do that.”
Summers notes that there are competitive concerns too with Santa Cruz City Schools moving ahead with a 100-unit housing complex on Swift Street.
Sánchez said he is still reviewing the budget and is planning a status report in the first board meeting in October.
“I think we have rounded a corner,” Summers said. “I think we are moving in the right direction. Does that mean we can go back and hire everyone? No.”
