Visalia Unified will roll out public financial dashboard in 2026, aims to increase transparency

VISALIA, Calif. (KFSN) -- The Visalia Unified School District is looking to peel back the curtain on how it spends money.

Next year, they'll be making it easier for families to see revenue and expenses.

This time last year, the Visalia Unified School District was preparing to roll out its five-year strategic plan called "Forward 2030: A Community Driven Blueprint for the future."

Now, the district's Chief Business Officer, Nathan Hernandez, says plans are in action.

"Part of the strategic plan, we have an initiative that's aimed at having transparent, timely financial policies and practices," Hernandez said.

The district is working to implement that initiative by launching a public financial dashboard by the spring of 2026.

Through a program called "Open Finance", Hernandez says anyone will be able to access financial information about the district, including its revenue and expenditures.

"It's in a way that is easy to access, easy to understand, provides visuals and graphics," Hernandez said.

Hernandez says finances are reported to the school board every quarter, but those numbers were typically about a month old by the time they were discussed.

He says this program will be much more up-to-date.

"Since it's connected with our financial system, it's refreshed every night," Hernandez said.

Hernandez says he hopes this will help families and students have a better understanding of how the district is prioritizing resources.

"The whole idea really is we're building trust within the community. We want to maintain that trust, and we've been doing that with our community outreach through our strategic plan," Hernandez said.

The district says it is looking forward to rolling out the dashboard and receiving community feedback.

That way, they can improve the platform and ensure information is relevant for families.

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