{"id":11534,"date":"2026-05-28T16:31:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T16:31:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=11534"},"modified":"2026-05-28T16:31:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T16:31:20","slug":"santa-rosa-school-district-on-brink-of-collapse-mulls-raise-for-finance-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=11534","title":{"rendered":"Santa Rosa school district on brink of collapse mulls raise for finance chief"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 300px 160px; gap: 2px; width: 460px; background: #eee; padding: 2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u6574\u884c\u5bbd\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876674\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 90px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876676\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u5de6\u4fa7\u7ad6\u6392 -->\r\n  <div style=\"height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876672\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"height: 500px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876680\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u6469\u5929\u697c\uff08\u548c\u5de6\u4fa7\u5b8c\u5168\u5bf9\u9f50\uff09 -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row: 3\/5; height: 750px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876678\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  \r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e6\" data-zoneid=\"5876682\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>While dozens of employees from this Santa Rosa school district collect unemployment, their interim fiscal chief could be set for a fat new paycheck.<\/p>\n<p>Weeks after 80 employees received layoff notices from Santa Rosa City Schools, district trustees are voting on Luz C\u00e1zares\u2019 substantial pay raise.<\/p>\n<p>If approved, she will receive $76,000 in additional compensation for her duties. C\u00e1zares\u2019 new deal comes despite the district\u2019s messy financial mismanagement. The district brought in too many new workers for the revenue it was generating, authorities said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Santa Rosa High School falls within the Northern California school district that has just laid off 80 employees. <span class=\"credit\">Santa Rosa Highschool<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>At the same time, student enrollment dropped from 16,000 in 2016 to under 12,000 in 2025. California districts are typically paid based on the number of students enrolled.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Fine, CEO of the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, told the district that it has \u201csome serious cash issues.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cFar more serious than any other district in the state. I don\u2019t understand why you are always out of cash,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Santa Rosa City Schools district trustees are voting on interim fiscal chief Luz C\u00e1zares\u2019 substantial pay raise. <span class=\"credit\">UC BERKELEY<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>C\u00e1zares was brought on in July part-time to help fix the district\u2019s financial situation as the person formerly in her position, Lisa August Hulme, became interim superintendent after the district\u2019s prior superintendent Daisy Morales was ousted. She\u2019s a financial consultant who taught education graduate students as a professor at UC Berkeley and assisted schools in fractured financial situations.<\/p>\n<p>She also worked as the chief financial officer for the Alameda Unified School District for more than four years, according to her LinkedIn.<\/p>\n<p>C\u00e1zares has been credited with steering the school out of its tough financial situation and has worked far more hours than anticipated. She cut the district\u2019s budget by $2.8 million in the current fiscal year and more than $30 million in the two upcoming years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe knew that this year was going to take a lot of work but I don\u2019t think we knew exactly how much,\u201d district spokesperson Patrick Gannon told The Press Democrat. \u201cThe proposed change of the contract is just a way to reflect that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The new pay raise will put her total compensation number at nearly $230,000. School officials say they budgeted more for the position than what was used, and vacancies in the budget department also helped save money.<\/p>\n<div class=\"single__inline-module inline-module inline-module--newsletter aligncenter inline-module--nypostbusinessunit aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-newsletter\" data-source-unit=\"Inline Newsletter Module Cali - Morning Report\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__title-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__unsubmitted-title-wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"inline-module__title headline headline--combo-sm-md\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for the California Morning Report newsletter\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<p class=\"inline-module__cta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCalifornia&#8217;s top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"inline-module__title headline headline--combo-sm-md\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Assistant superintendent of teaching and learning Roderick M. Castro makes more than $200,000 a year. <span class=\"credit\">LinkedIn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But teachers are still upset that a top administration official is getting a big-money raise. Some are frustrated top officials are getting paid for every hour of their time while they put in the effort off the clock.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHistorically, teachers\u2019 level of work has always exceeded our time and our pay and the anticipated need,\u201d first-grade teacher Kate Gillespie wrote in an email to the board of trustees.<\/p>\n<p> \u201cFor decades we have donated our time and energy to \u2018make it work.\u2019 And just a heads up\u2026 we don\u2019t do it tirelessly, as the cliche goes. It\u2019s exhausting. But we do it and have continued to do it for years and years\u2026 (District administrators) have never suggested that we should be paid for our unpaid work,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><figcaption>Assistant superintendent\u00a0Dr. Vicki Zands also makes more than $200,000 a year in benefits and pay.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Other top officials like Hulme, assistant superintendent\u00a0Dr. Vicki Zands, and assistant superintendent of teaching and learning Roderick M. Castro all make more than $200,000 a year in benefits and pay.<\/p>\n<p>Gannon says the additional work required of C\u00e1zares will be discussed in the meeting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a difficult time \u2014 this is the discussion we\u2019re going to have tonight to talk about the additional work that was required and a potential adjustment to the contract to reflect the work,\u201d Gannon said. \u201cWe wanted to do that in a way that was transparent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Santa Rosa Teacher Association leaders believe the pay raise was unnecessary.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGreater than expected workload is not enough to increase the pay for classified employees,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters <\/strong><\/h2>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p><strong>California Post News<\/strong>: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, WhatsApp, LinkedIn<br \/><strong>California Post Sports<\/strong> Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X<br \/><strong>California Post  <\/strong>Opinion <br \/><strong>California Post Newsletters<\/strong>: Sign up here!<br \/><strong>California Post App<\/strong>: Download here!<br \/><strong>Home delivery<\/strong>: Sign up here!<br \/><strong>Page Six Hollywood<\/strong>: Sign up here!<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async defer src=\"https:\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><!-- \u603b\u5bb9\u5668\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u5bbd908px Grid\u7d27\u51d1\u5e03\u5c40 -->\r\n<div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 728px 160px; gap:2px; width:908px; background:#eee; padding:2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u901a\u680f\u9876\u90e8\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u6a2a\u5e45 908x258 \u8de8\u6574\u884c -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column:1\/-1; height:258px; background:#ff6b6b; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114307\" data-width=\"908\" data-height=\"258\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114307});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u7b2c\u4e8c\u901a\u680f\uff1a728\u00d790 \u901a\u680f -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column:1\/-1; height:90px; background:#4ecdc4; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114300\" data-width=\"728\" data-height=\"90\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114300});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u5de6\u4fa7\u4e3b\u680f\uff1a\u591a\u5e7f\u544a\u5806\u53e0 -->\r\n  <div style=\"display:grid; gap:2px;\">\r\n    <div style=\"height:60px; background:#45b7d1; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n\t<!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114308\" data-width=\"468\" data-height=\"60\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114308});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n    <div style=\"height:250px; background:#ffe066; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n\t<!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114299\" data-width=\"300\" data-height=\"250\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114299});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n    <div style=\"height:250px; background:#ff9ecd; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n\t<!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114305\" data-width=\"250\" data-height=\"250\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114305});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n    <div style=\"height:139px; background:#c792ea; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n\t<!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114302\" data-width=\"133\" data-height=\"139\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114302});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n    <div style=\"height:125px; background:#91e7ac; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n\t\r\n<!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114303\" data-width=\"125\" data-height=\"125\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114303});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u7ad6\u680f\uff1a160\u00d7600 \u6574\u5217\u9ad8\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row:3\/8; height:600px;  display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114301\" data-width=\"160\" data-height=\"600\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114301});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/05\/28\/us-news\/santa-rosa-school-district-on-brink-of-collapse-mulls-raise-for-finance-chief\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While dozens of employees from this Santa Rosa school district collect unemployment, their interim fiscal&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[349],"tags":[8402,1299,1288,584,697,7962,1079,1542,1541,583],"class_list":["post-11534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-brink","tag-chief","tag-collapse","tag-district","tag-finance","tag-mulls","tag-raise","tag-rosa","tag-santa","tag-school"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/128975056.jpg",1200,799,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/128975056-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/128975056-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/128975056-768x511.jpg",640,426,true],"large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/128975056-1024x682.jpg",640,426,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/128975056.jpg",1200,799,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/128975056.jpg",1200,799,false],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/128975056-1115x715.jpg",1115,715,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/128975056-800x500.jpg",800,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/128975056-1024x682.jpg",1024,682,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/128975056-540x340.jpg",540,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/128975056-400x250.jpg",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?author=1"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?cat=349\" rel=\"category\">Blog<\/a>","tag_info":"Blog","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}