Superintendent Jason Glass will ask the Palo Alto Unified School District board Tuesday to approve an organizational overhaul that eliminates three central office positions and restores an in-house attorney, a package he says will save the district more than $1.3 million in salaries and legal costs.

The Aug. 18 meeting at 25 Churchill Avenue marks Glass's first time before the board since taking over July 1. He is the district's fourth superintendent in roughly six months.

Glass's plan eliminates the deputy superintendent role previously held by Trent Bahadursingh, along with an operations support administrator and the associate superintendent of curriculum and instruction, according to the PA Daily Post. Those cuts save an estimated $748,282 in administrative salaries. The deputy superintendent's duties will be split among Chief Business Officer Charen Yu, Assistant Superintendent Herb Espiritu and Assistant Superintendent Jeong Choe.

"No school site positions were affected," Glass wrote in his report to the board.

The second piece of the plan brings back an in-house general counsel. PAUSD has relied on outside contract lawyers since August 2022, when the board dismissed its first in-house attorney, Komey Vishakan, without cause. Hiring a new staff attorney will cost an estimated $420,027, but Glass projects the district will still save $579,973 on legal bills. The board will discuss the position Tuesday and could vote to fill it in September.

The restructuring follows a turbulent stretch for district leadership. Former Superintendent Don Austin received $596,802 to resign in February 2026, and Bahadursingh lasted 22 days as acting superintendent before departing with a $346,673 payout.

Glass's cost-cutting arrives as PAUSD navigates tightening finances. Measure B, an $800-per-parcel tax that would have generated roughly $15 million a year, failed in the June primary. Yu warned at a June 2 budget hearing that without changes to ongoing expenses, the district would fall below minimum state reserve requirements. The board adopted a $369 million budget for 2026-27 but signaled more cuts were likely.

In a late-June interview with the Midpeninsula Post, Glass said he was "clear-eyed about the assignment" and listed budget stabilization among his stated goals for the district.

The board is expected to take up the general counsel hire at a September meeting. Whether Glass's broader restructuring wins unanimous approval Tuesday will signal how much latitude the new superintendent has to reshape a district that spent nearly $950,000 in separation payouts this year alone.