Santa Rosa City School officials are making six figures despite major budget problems.

California’s largest school district is teetering on the brink of collapse after losing control over spending and hiring.

Santa Rosa City Schools, about 1.5 hours north of San Francisco, were fined by Sonoma County education officials for blowing stacks of money.

The workers saw huge pockets and brought in many new workers with the money they received, authorities said.

Meanwhile the district saw student enrollment drop from 16,000 in 2016 to less than 12,000 last year in 24 schools in the district.

In a stark warning, Michael Fine, CEO of the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, told the school at a January board meeting: “You have serious financial problems.”

He continued: “It is more difficult than all the other districts in the province. I don’t understand why you always have no money.”

The president of the teachers’ union also toured the district saying that he has fixed the problems in the schools for a while.

Kathryn Howell said: “It’s a house of cards, it looks like me.” Much of the focus of investigators has been on hiring workers at high wages while enrollment has been declining over the past decade.

School districts in California receive funding based on the number of students enrolled, but the numbers in the district have been steadily declining over the past five years.

Despite this, Santa Rosa City School officials have been making more than $1 million combined, the Post can reveal.

Lisa August Hulme, now the interim Superintendent of Santa Rosa City Schools, has a base salary of $261,537.

That’s for 90 percent of California superintendents and is close to salaries in large districts with more than 20,000 students.

Other top earners include Dr. Vicki Zands, assistant superintendent makes more than $222,000 a year after benefits.

Roderick M. Castro, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning, had a gross salary of $243,410.60.

Stacy A. Desideri, executive director of health and engagement earned $198,000 in total compensation.

The 2025-2026 Santa Rosa City schools administrator salary schedule also reveals above average pay for various positions including $170,000 for a high school principal, the California average is $135,000.

Other factors also make students not attend their classes. At Montgomery High, a 16-year-old student was stabbed by another student in 2023.

Jayden Jess Pienta, was stabbed in the classroom and later died at a Santa Rosa hospital.

The district has also been plagued by budget problems after losing a large number of students during the Covid and wildfires in 2017, which burned more than 5,600 buildings and killed 22 people.

Given the budget issue, some of the county officials have taken a pay cut to try to help with this budget.

Calls for comment to Santa Rosa City Schools were not immediately returned.

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