Palo Alto Unified School District

Palo Alto Unified School District is a unified school district in Santa Clara County, California, with 10,124 students enrolled in the 2025–26 school year.⁠[1]

The district’s website lists 12 elementary, three middle and three high schools.⁠[2]

In May 2023 the district eliminated high school credit for multivariable calculus, so the course no longer appeared on transcripts or affected GPA.⁠[3]

On January 21, 2025, the board of education voted 3–2 to eliminate honors biology and place all freshmen in a single introductory course. Alison Kamhi, Shounak Dharap and Shana Segal voted in favor; Rowena Chiu and Josh Salcman voted against.⁠[4]

Teachers said a single class would ease the transition from eighth to ninth grade; Salcman favored a pilot first.⁠[4]

In May 2025 Representative Ro Khanna criticized the decision on X, writing, “They call it de-laning. I call it an assault on excellence.” He also said the district had already removed Honors English.⁠[5]

The same month the board presented a first draft of its 2025–2026 mission statement, “The Promise,” adding a tenet of “academic access and excellence.”⁠[3]

In June 2025 the board adopted a $354 million budget for 2025–26, up from $337 million the year before; the district relies primarily on local property taxes rather than state funds.⁠[6]

In December 2025 the board approved two courses for 2026–27, “Introduction to Proofs: Honors” and “Multivariable Calculus/Linear Algebra Honors,” both with AP Calculus as a prerequisite, letting students take advanced math during the school day without leaving campus.⁠[7]

Don Austin, superintendent for nearly eight years, was paid $596,802 in February 2026 to resign and later became superintendent in Laguna Beach, while Laguna Beach’s superintendent, Jason E. Glass, took a four-year Palo Alto contract at $396,136 a year.⁠[8]

On June 13, 2026, the district announced that the board had selected Glass as its next superintendent, starting July 1 pending approval of his contract on June 16. Board President Shounak Dharap said “Dr. Glass is the right person to help us meet this moment.”⁠[9]

In June 2026 voters rejected Measure B, a roughly $14 million parcel tax, the first such defeat in 22 years; two weeks later the board approved raises of 10.4% for teachers and 10.2% for non-teaching staff.⁠[10]

In his August 21, 2026, weekly update, Superintendent Glass said roughly $33 million in ongoing reductions would be needed for 2027–28 and that the existing parcel tax, worth about $17 million a year, expires at the end of 2026–27.⁠[2]

On October 1, 2026, the firm School Services of California began an outside review of the district’s projections; the board plans to vote on cuts in January 2027.⁠[10]