The Fresno Unified School Board approved a $1.66 billion budget for 2026-27 by a 6-1 vote, eliminating 383.8 full-time-equivalent positions and $2.2 million in centralized elementary field-trip funding. The cuts are the deepest in recent years, according to the Fresno Bee.
Budget cuts and staffing reductions
The district's projected deficit dropped from $55 million to about $23 million after California's May budget revision brought Fresno Unified an additional $52.5 million, including $33 million in ongoing unrestricted funding and $19.5 million in one-time money. Despite the improved outlook, the board kept all planned staffing reductions, as reported by Fresnoland.
The deepest cuts hit the Department of Prevention and Intervention (44 positions), early education (41 teachers), and school safety (37 positions), according to the district's budget document cited by the Fresno Bee. Across school sites, 229 positions were affected, including counselors, psychologists, campus safety staff, and intervention specialists. The district also eliminated 14 child and welfare attendance specialists and 2 academic counselors from the Project ACCESS team, which serves foster youth and students experiencing homelessness, as reported by EdSource and KVPR.
Superintendent compensation
California public compensation records from Transparent California show Superintendent Misty Her (listed as Mao Her) received $513,725 in total pay and benefits in 2025: $386,045 in base pay, $40,563 in other pay, and $87,117 in benefits.
The board approved Her's superintendent employment agreement on April 30, 2025, with a term from May 1, 2025 through June 30, 2028. Her's annual base salary is $385,500, including a 7.5 percent career increment, per the board's filing. The contract includes a potential 3 to 7 percent annual salary increase contingent on a positive board evaluation, with the first evaluation scheduled for July 1, 2026. It also grants $1,500 monthly travel pay, 25 vacation days, and lifetime health benefits, as reported by GV Wire.
In June 2025, during a $49 million deficit, Fresno Unified extended a 5 percent ongoing raise and a 3 percent one-time payment to all administrative staff, including Superintendent Her. The raises were originally negotiated for teachers. The district reported the raises cost $39.5 million plus $19.8 million in one-time payments for 2025-26. Her received a salary increase of $19,275 and a one-time payment of $11,565, according to GV Wire.
Comparison with other districts
Long Beach Unified School District, cited as similar in size and diversity to Fresno Unified, paid Superintendent Jill Baker approximately $279,300 in base salary in her first year in 2020. That is roughly $106,000 less than Her's $385,500 starting base salary, though the comparison predates inflation and does not account for total benefits, as reported by GV Wire.
District rationale and state budget outlook
Chief Financial Officer Patrick Jensen stated that the district's Local Control Funding Formula assumes a continuing enrollment decline of 1,200 students per year for three years, and that low attendance and low enrollment trends are structural, according to Fresnoland. Since the district's budget peaked at $2.3 billion in 2023-24, Fresno Unified has made reductions of $26 million, $34.9 million, and $39.8 million over three consecutive years, the Fresno Bee reported.
Michael Fine, CEO of California's Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, said that despite the state budget's growth, declining enrollment and rising costs that outpace state funding mean the state budget will not solve most districts' money issues. He noted that Fresno Unified is not at risk of county or state oversight due to its deficit, according to EdSource and KVPR.
The Fresno Teachers Association pointed out that the district's Local Control and Accountability Plan budgeted $2,353,572 for district-funded educational trips, raising a legal question about whether the district complied with state law requiring its budget to contain money necessary to implement its LCAP, as reported by the SJV Sun.