New superintendent of Paso Robles schools lays out future plans

‘Our district is facing significant budget cuts,’ Jennifer Loftus says

– The new Paso Robles Joint Unified School District (PRJUSD) superintendent, Jennifer Loftus, is a Paso Robles High School (PRHS) graduate with over 26 years of experience in the education field. She was approved by the PRJUSD Board of Trustees in April 2024 and started her duties in July.

“My plan this year is to spend a lot of time listening to our students and families, our staff, and our community.” she says. “I want to hear about our hopes and dreams for Paso Robles schools and then work with all educational partners, [such as] students, parents, staff and community, to develop a really robust strategic plan that allows us to create a map for making these dreams a reality.

“While creating the strategic plan is the overarching goal, the other two areas of priority this year will be to support our educators on focusing on instruction, as well as ensuring the district remains fiscally solvent,” said Loftus, who graduated from PRHS in 1992.

Some of the roles Loftus has held include assistant principal, principal, consultant at the private and state level, director, executive director, interim assistant superintendent, and adjunct professor. During her time as the director of administrative services for the Office of Special Education of Baltimore City Schools, she had direct oversight of a 300 million dollar budget and all the associated grant application and reporting requirements associated with many funding sources.

Loftus most recently served as the executive director of Educational Services in the Santa Maria-Bonita School District, where her “department’s multi-million dollar budget consisted not just of state and federal funding sources but also a multitude of competitive grants. I also have years of experience providing direct oversight of various budgets, to include supporting both internal and external audits.”

She says, “Our students’ education is our number one priority yet so often others have other priorities that distract our efforts and energies from our students. I would like to buffer our staff from this noise and keep our focus on providing good first instruction.”

Another topic facing the PRJUSD involves budget and staffing issues.

“It is also important to understand that our district is facing significant budget cuts in the very near future. The district has experienced declining enrollment for several years yet has not [had] right-sized staffing, and in many cases we have added staffing using one-time funds that were provided to support school districts during the pandemic. As these funds expire or are fully spent, we will need to make cuts. These are never easy things to do but are absolutely necessary to ensure the district can continue to meet its financial obligations in the future,” Loftus said.

The application process included gathering background information on Loftus from previous employers for references and multiple interviews with the PRJUSD Board of Trustees. Loftus was unanimously approved.

“The Paso community means a lot to me. In fact, it was at Paso Robles High School that a few teachers saw something in me that I did not yet see in myself. They encouraged me to do well in school, told me I was capable of doing great things, and pushed me to take courses that would allow me to go to college. I believe that it is because of them that I decided to go into education,” said Loftus, who is planning on moving to Paso Robles from Nipomo soon. She has two children and five grandchildren; two of her grandchildren will attend PRHS in the future.

“For me, serving as the district’s superintendent allows me to come full circle in my career and provides an opportunity for me to give back to my community,” Loftus said.