Who is MBUSD's new superintendent — and the budget deficit she inherits

June 2026 · Last updated: June 10, 2026

Dr. Kimberlie Linz — a former Pacific Elementary and Manhattan Beach Middle School principal who spent the last eight years as El Segundo Unified's chief business officer — becomes MBUSD superintendent on July 1, 2026, chosen from a field of 28 applicants, per Easy Reader. She inherits a district that has authorized 58.85 possible layoffs, projects a $6.8 million budget shortfall for 2026-27, and adopts its budget at board meetings on June 17–18, per MBUSD's board calendar.

If you're an MBUSD parent, here is who she is, how the math got this bad, and what gets decided next week.

Who is Dr. Kimberlie Linz?

A nearly three-decade educator who started as a special education teacher and spent 2008–2018 inside MBUSD as a principal before leaving to run El Segundo Unified's business office, per Easy Reader's profile. The board's selection logic was explicit: a budget crisis calls for a finance-credentialed leader who can communicate. In 2023 the Association of California School Administrators named her California's Business Official of the Year; in El Segundo she managed the district budget and a $92 million bond program. She holds a doctorate in educational leadership from USC.

One concrete signal of her approach, per the same report: asked in interviews about budget transparency, she immediately proposed forming a community budget advisory committee, modeled on bond oversight committees. The board announced her selection March 30, voted on her employment April 14, and approved her contract April 29.

How bad is the budget she inherits?

The board authorized 58.85 full-time-equivalent layoffs for the coming year — including more than 40 teachers — nearly double the 31 positions cut a year earlier, per Easy Reader. The district projects a $6.8 million shortfall for 2026-27, per Mira Costa's La Vista, and its Fiscal Stabilization Plan calls for $6.652 million in reductions next year and $7.524 million the year after.

The structural cause: California's Local Control Funding Formula weights money toward districts with more high-need students. MBUSD receives $11,657 per student in LCFF funding against a state median of $14,421, per Easy Reader — making it, per district figures cited by La Vista, the lowest-funded district in Los Angeles County.

What has the community put in — and is it enough?

The Manhattan Beach Education Foundation granted MBUSD $7,636,400 for 2026-27, the largest gift in its 43-year history, delivered early so the district could rescind some pink slips before final notices, per Easy Reader. But only the increase above the $6.5 million already baked into district projections translates directly into jobs saved — roughly eight to ten positions, at an average cost of about $125,000 per full-time employee.

MBEF's own annual appeal page puts the tension plainly: over 50% of MBUSD families raised $5.2 million toward educator positions — the appeal's annual goal — "but this year, that's not enough" against the $6.8 million deficit and almost 60 preliminary staffing reductions. The foundation extended the appeal into late May, noting every $125,000 raised restores one classroom teaching position; Executive Director Hilary Mahan has said she hopes to reach $8 million and to present additional funding to the board in June.

Why not a parcel tax?

It polled badly. An FM3 survey in February tested a $216-per-year parcel tax and found just 48% support — far short of the two-thirds needed to pass, per Easy Reader. The same poll found only 48% of likely voters believe the district has a great or some need for more funding. The polling consultant's diagnosis: the district's own excellence masks the crisis. That perception gap is precisely the problem the board hired Linz to work on.

What gets decided June 17–18 — and how do you weigh in?

Per MBUSD's board meeting calendar: the budget public hearing and regular meeting is Wednesday, June 17 at 5 p.m., and a special meeting to adopt the budget and LCAP follows Thursday, June 18 at 8 a.m. Whatever final rescission and cut numbers emerge, they land there. Meetings are open to the public at the district office, with agendas on the district's board portal and a live stream at vimeo.com/event/2280508.

We track this story, and everything else that hits your money in MB and Hermosa, in the twice-weekly Pier to Pier newsletter.

General information, not advice.

Sources

  • Easy Reader, "EDUCATION: Dr. Kimberlie Linz selected as MBUSD superintendent," April 2, 2026 — https://easyreadernews.com/education-kimberlie-linz-selected-as-mbusd-superintendent/
  • Easy Reader, "MBEF, after a $7.6 million grant to MBUSD, is not done yet," May 5, 2026 — https://easyreadernews.com/manhattan-beach-education-foundation-drive-mbusd/
  • MBEF, Annual Appeal — https://mbef.org/annual-appeal/
  • MBUSD, Board Meeting Dates — https://www.mbusd.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=137960&type=d&pREC_ID=504114
  • La Vista (Mira Costa HS), "MBUSD prepares to make extreme cuts," March 2, 2026 — https://www.lavistamchs.com/mbusd-prepares-to-make-extreme-cuts/

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