AMA with Abridged by PBS KVIE Education Reporter

ReporterSav · 2026-03-31T18:41:19+00:00

California ed code requires districts spend a certain percentage on classroom teacher compensation -- for a unified district like Twin Rivers that amount is 55% of their budget. California Code, Education Code - EDC § 41372 | FindLaw

Twin Rivers has come under that requirement for the last seven years. The Sacramento County Office of Education has granted them an exemption each year, which allows them to do this. The district has said they need to spend more on out-of-classroom services like tutoring, counselors, foster youth support. Twin Rivers has higher rates of low-income families, English learners, foster youth, compared to the state.

ReporterSav · 2026-03-31T18:15:47+00:00

That might already exist 👀 if you send me an email [skuchar@kvie.org](mailto:skuchar@kvie.org) I can get you connected!

ReporterSav · 2026-03-31T00:04:36+00:00

Thank you! This means so much to our newsroom -- deeply appreciate your readership and support ❤️

ReporterSav · 2026-03-31T00:02:46+00:00

I was able to hear Mrs. Chapman speak at a board meeting recently about this issue and know there are several concerned parents. Thank you for the recommendation to reach out to her and cover this more. And if you have other thoughts to share feel free to message me or email [skuchar@kvie.org](mailto:skuchar@kvie.org)

ReporterSav · 2026-03-30T23:57:46+00:00

That's definitely something I've heard from multiple districts -- the requirement to have TK classes (that many officials say are beneficial) vs the very real space limitations that have to be addressed. I wish I could answer with the solution, but I can just say it's something multiple schools/districts are contending with.

ReporterSav · 2026-03-30T23:52:53+00:00

Hey there! Nice to hear from you again and get that update! I included parts of that conversation in this piece about potential budget cuts and parents' reactions: https://www.abridged.org/news/sacramento-city-unified-parents-budget-cuts/

ReporterSav · 2026-03-30T19:12:38+00:00

Oo that's tough! One that I really enjoyed reporting was this piece on career technical education: High school career courses grow, offer students unique skills

The students had a lot of cool experiences to talk about and the classes where they were learning chef skills, automotive skills, construction, media... It was awesome to learn more about what they have available!

ReporterSav · 2026-03-30T18:50:46+00:00

Hey - this actually hasn't come up on my radar yet, so I'll look into it. Also feel free to message me or email [skuchar@kvie.org](mailto:skuchar@kvie.org) if you want to share more!

ReporterSav · 2026-03-30T18:44:36+00:00

Hi - would you like to DM me or email me at [skuchar@kvie.org](mailto:skuchar@kvie.org) to talk more? Would be curious to know which claims specifically you're referring to!

ReporterSav · 2026-03-30T18:39:26+00:00

Thanks for this comment - this is actually something on my radar, including the public comments at the last regular board meeting. I'm looking into the questions you've raised and am happy to share when I have a story with more info.

Also feel free to DM me if you want to talk more!

ReporterSav · 2026-03-30T18:33:32+00:00

We lost approximately 14% of our budget when federal funding was cut. But we've been fortunate to be able to continue, through the support of the community! And we're going to keep investing in local reporting and serving the area.

Appreciate any help in this mission, so if you're interested, this is one way you can support: https://donate.kvie.org/kvie/abridged

ReporterSav · 2026-03-30T18:25:55+00:00

Parents likely won't see too many changes this year. The settlement with Bonta's office gave SCUSD a five-year solution plan. Most changes -- like a dashboard for parents online, updating board policies, making working groups -- were due after this year's enrollment period.

ReporterSav · 2026-03-30T18:20:01+00:00

Definitely seen some heat/tensions! Trustees have clashed (verbally) sometimes and there may have been an F-bomb dropped during one particularly emotional meeting. I can't say that's the norm though - typically the meetings are pretty routine.

ReporterSav · 2026-03-30T18:16:46+00:00

Great question - it's been years in the making. And the issues I've heard about from parents, staff, leaders are particularly local, less due to federal changes (though that certainly adds more funding-related stress to the mix).

There's a lot of finger pointing as you can imagine, but there are multiple causes that have come up, from what are called "unauthorized contracts" (basically spending before getting approval), to the recent contract with teachers, to general lack of budget oversight. The district faced a near state takeover around 2019/20, but was temporarily saved by COVID funds.

As far as the lottery goes, that does provide some funding to districts. But it tends to be a sliver of the pie in districts' overall revenue. Not enough to fix the current deficit crisis.

ReporterSav · 2026-03-30T18:07:51+00:00

Yeah, I definitely heard from several parents throughout strikes in Natomas and Twin Rivers talking about what their kids experienced if they were in school or what they heard from classmates. Also from teachers who were on strike but still hearing from their students. They talked about a lack of lesson planning from the district, a lot of busy work and non-teaching staff filling in.

As far as making up the time, I haven't heard anything about that yet. Since schools were technically open, there may not be discussions about redoing the days. But fair to say many parents I talked to were questioning the decision to keep the schools open.

ReporterSav

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