Superintendent's Update - January 16, 2026
Superintendent's Update - January 16, 2026
From the Office of the Superintendent
Board Agenda Calendar
View Calendar of Board Items 2025-26
Superintendent Austin’s Message . . .
This report has quite a bit of information, including the PAUSD Promise midyear report. Our progress in key areas is impressive and a testament to those who serve our students each day. I would encourage everyone to give the snapshot report a look to see where we are spending our time and energy.
I rarely ask students where they are going to college. I do, however, ask them if they feel good about their plans after high school. That often leads to them sharing about college plans and sometimes to discussions about vocational or entrepreneurial aspirations. All of those things are interesting and exciting to discuss. The smile on the student’s face when discussing plans is infinitely more important than the name of the school on the front of their sweatshirt. We have amazing students!
Please enjoy the update and let us know if there are areas that you suggest we spend some more time and focus. Our plans evolve a little bit each year, and we believe in the importance of continuous and sustainable improvement.
Negotiations Update
Negotiations with our professional associations is a cyclical exercise governed by rules of engagement. As part of this process, PAUSD does our best to provide information to our community that allows access to the proposals, provides some context, and points to data used to make decisions. It’s hard to look through the news without reading about massive cuts, budget reductions, and poor decisions leading to labor strife. We need to make some adjustments for efficiency and to reallocate some dollars, but we are not facing large-scale issues like many of our neighbors. Our webpage details the difference between an ending fund balance and reserves, describes our contract language, and provides comparisons to our neighbors and other similar school districts. We encourage interested parties to visit our site to see our progress and better understand the process.
Please visit the link here: https://www.pausd.org/hr/collective-bargaining-contracts/negotiations
The Palo Alto Mid-Year Promise Snapshot
The Mid-Year Promise Snapshot is a progress check-in on PAUSD’s Promise goals, designed to show how the District is progressing across its five priority areas:
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Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
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High Quality Teaching and Learning
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Innovation and Social Responsibility
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Mental Health and Wellness
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Serve and Celebrate Others
It also sets the stage for the Annual Report, which supports a structured cycle of reflection and accountability by highlighting what’s on track, what’s improving, and where additional focus may be needed, and informing how the District aligns priorities with budget development and resource allocation.
The 2025-26 Mid-Year Promise Snapshot highlights strong progress in student achievement and access, including rising A–G completion rates, expanded dual enrollment serving more than 450 students, and continued gains in special education inclusion. The report also reflects PAUSD’s commitment to the whole child, with increases in student belonging and strengthened mental health supports and family education across schools.
Palo Alto Unified School District’s English Language Update
Palo Alto Unified School District serves approximately 10,100 students, including about 10% who are English Learners representing more than 43 languages. Our English Learner (EL) Program is grounded in the belief that every student, regardless of home language, deserves to thrive. We prioritize welcoming learning environments, strong language development, culturally affirming practices, and targeted supports for students and families.
Key Highlights
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Our English Learners are demonstrating continued growth, performing at the Green level on the state English Learner Progress Indicator.
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Long-Term English Learners have shown notable improvement, with performance increasing by over 21% from the prior year.
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Overall, English Learners are performing at the Green level in five of six state indicators, reflecting strong systemwide progress.
Looking Ahead
We are strengthening our work by updating our EL Master Plan and LCAP goals, using data more intentionally to guide supports, expanding professional learning for staff, deepening regional partnerships, increasing course offerings, and improving systems of support through PLCs at both the elementary and secondary levels.
Centering Student and Community Voice: California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS)
PAUSD students in grades 5, 7, 9, and 11 will have the opportunity to share their perspectives through the California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) this year, sponsored by the California Department of Education. In PAUSD, we value student voice, and feedback from this survey helps guide our efforts to promote the well-being of all students, as well as a positive school climate, safety, and connection. The CHKS is administered every other year, and previous district results, including data by school and the modules assessed, can be found here: PAUSD CHKS Results.
The survey is anonymous and voluntary and will be administered between February 2–13. Families of students in grades 5, 7, 9, and 11 have received detailed information from their school principal, including how to review survey questions and opt their child out if they wish. Additionally, PAUSD families and staff will have the opportunity to complete a CHKS survey in February to provide broader community perspectives that further inform our efforts to support student well-being.
Building Career Readiness: Industry-Aligned Certification Opportunities for Students
PAUSD’s Innovation and Agility is expanding efforts to promote industry-aligned certification opportunities for students through high school courses offered at PAUSD and through dual enrollment with Foothill College. These courses provide a strong foundation and area of concentration, while certifications such as YouScience, NAFTrack, and Foothill College Certificates encourage work-based learning opportunities to build career readiness. For more information, students are encouraged to attend the Life After High School Transition Resource Fair. The PAUSD community is also invited to the Annual Career-Themed Pathways Showcase on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, from 3:00–4:30 p.m. at the Media Arts Center at Palo Alto High School.
Business Services Update
At the January 20 Board of Education meeting, the Board will discuss an important financial planning item. The Board will review the first draft of the District’s 2026–27 Budget Assumptions, which serve as an early planning framework connecting financial decisions to educational priorities. This draft reflects current economic conditions and the Governor’s January budget proposal and will continue to be refined as additional information and staff input become available before returning to the Board later this spring.
In addition, we would like to share an operational update: the District has hired Karina Takemoto to lead our sustainability initiatives. This role will focus on advancing long-term environmental stewardship and aligning sustainability efforts with responsible fiscal and operational practices across the District. Please welcome Karina to the PAUSD team!
These efforts reflect the District’s continued commitment to thoughtful planning, sound financial stewardship, and long-term stability in support of student learning.
2024-25 School Accountability Report Cards (SARC)
The annual School Accountability Report Cards (SARCs) for the 2024-25 school year are now posted on each school’s website, and will be formally approved at Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting. These reports provide families and the community with important information regarding school performance, safety, and local goals. This annual update ensures transparency and helps our district track progress across all school sites.
You can access your school’s digital copy on their individual website under the "About Us/School Reports" section or search for them on the California Department of Education website after February 1, 2026. If you prefer a physical copy, hard copies are available upon request through your school’s main office.
Hoover Ribbon Cutting
We are pleased to welcome community members and families to the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Hoover Elementary School, a new 50,000 SF campus.
The Hoover campus rebuild has been several years in the making and represents the most technologically and environmentally sensitive campus in the Palo Alto Unified School District. The school is designed to have a dialogue with the surrounding Eichler neighborhood, referencing the 1950s buildings with modern details that fit a school building. The buildings use cross-laminated timber as the primary building material, a sustainably harvested, engineered wood that captures and stores carbon and is more energy-efficient to manufacture than other building materials.
This all-electric school is the first 2-story, cross-laminated school building in the State. The District and its construction partners utilized a component-based building approach to engineer and construct wall, ceiling, and roof panels off-site in a factory, reducing waste and expediting construction. The resulting campus has a significantly reduced embodied carbon footprint compared to similar buildings and uses approximately 55% less carbon than a steel structure and 25% less carbon than a traditional wood frame structure.
The resulting classrooms are beautiful, light-filled classrooms that utilize exposed wood as a significant design feature, connecting our students to nature in the built environment and creating a learning environment that has been shown to enhance well-being and mental health while reducing stress.
Please join us this Thursday, 1/22, from 3:30-4:30. Park at Mitchell Park and walk to the Hoover site.
