OP-ED: CVUSD is headed toward financial disaster. Families deserve better.
Desert Sun
Assemblyman Jeff Gonzalez
February 20, 2026
When I was running for office, some of the most consistent and emotional conversations I had were with parents from the Coachella Valley Unified School District (CVUSD). At school board meetings and community events, parents raised serious concerns about fiscal mismanagement and a lack of transparency from district leadership.
I told them that if I were elected, I would look into it. I did exactly what I said I would do.
After reviewing the available information and listening to parents, teachers, and district employees, I requested an audit hearing in the Joint Legislative Audit Committee in the State Legislature to provide the transparency the public deserved. That request was granted.
However, during the committee process, several members argued the district should be given more time. They believed another review by the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, known as FCMAT, would allow CVUSD to course correct without legislative intervention.
The push for a legislative audit ultimately failed by just one vote, after behind-the-scenes efforts by a local Democratic lawmaker, Sen. Steve Padilla, to stop it from moving forward.
Transparency was denied to the families, employees, and students of CVUSD.
When calls for transparency are met with political pressure instead of openness, it raises serious questions about what is being protected and why.
Even after the audit was blocked, the concerns did not stop. Constituents continued to approach me at community events. Parents, teachers, and district employees thanked me for shining a light on what they described as long-standing issues and urged me not to back down.
Eight months later, the argument that “more time” would fix the problem has been tested and it has failed.
FCMAT’s most recent assessment, released Feb. 3, confirms what many feared. The district remains on the brink of insolvency. CVUSD faces an estimated $14 million budget deficit this year, nearly $26 million in 2026–2027, and more than $29 million in 2027–2028. The structural deficit would reduce the district’s projected ending unrestricted fund balance to just over $7 million in 2027–2028, falling below the 3% minimum reserve requirement.
At CVUSD’s Feb. 12 board meeting, when the board approved $25.4 million in new spending cuts, FCMAT staff said the district has made “a lot of progress.”
But it’s not enough. In plain terms, what the district is doing is not working. Without meaningful change, insolvency is not a possibility, it is a trajectory.
The pattern of negligence is not limited to finances. Parents are increasingly alarmed by failures that directly affect student health and safety. In recent years, there have been numerous reported cases of assault and abuse involving district personnel.
In just the past several months, three schools within the district were reported and confirmed to have black mold, with a lawyer for some families alleging the issue dates back as far as 2017. Children and teachers became sick. Parents were left in the dark.
Families have since banded together in pursuit of legal action, and the district required nondisclosure agreements — or as CVUSD labeled them, “confidentiality agreements” — before reports could be released. That is not transparency. That is damage control.
Despite these failures, the school board voted in December to give itself a 400% pay increase, raising board member compensation from $400 per month to $2,000 per month. This decision came while teachers were being laid off due to the budget deficit and students continued to attend schools lacking the infrastructure they deserve. At a time when the district is asking others to sacrifice, the board chose to reward itself.
I have attempted to engage district leadership in good faith. My team requested meetings with Superintendent Frances Esparza’s office and was told they were “unfortunately unavailable to meet.” When my chief of staff reached out late last year to request the district’s budget priorities, an opportunity for CVUSD to outline what resources it needed to better serve students, the request went unanswered.
Let me be clear. This has never been political. It has always been about doing right by kids and respecting parents who expect safe schools, fiscal responsibility, and honesty from the people entrusted with their children’s education.
The families of the Coachella Valley and CVUSD deserve better. They deserve transparency, accountability, and leadership that puts students first, not self-interest.
And I will not stop fighting for them in the Coachella Valley, in Imperial County, and throughout Assembly District 36.
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