Board adopts unaudited actuals and revised budget; district flags ADA decline and multi‑year structural deficit

Atascadero Unified School District staff presented the unaudited actuals for fiscal year 2024–25 and a revised budget for 2025–26 and recommended board approval. The board approved the unaudited actuals and revised budget by roll call vote.

Key fiscal points presented by the district’s finance staff: - The district closed FY 2024–25 with approximately $819,000 in savings to the unrestricted general fund (about 2% of unrestricted revenues). Staff described that amount as a deposit into the district’s reserves. - The district recognized roughly $1.3 million less in revenue than in FY 2023–24 because enrollment/attendance (ADA) did not grow as projected; the district’s P‑2 funded attendance came in at about 92.6% for the year. - Because state funding primarily flows through LCFF and is attendance‑driven, the district is now moving off a COVID-era “hold harmless” and will be funded on actual ADA; staff warned the district remains in a structural deficit through the third projected year (2027–28) absent further actions.

One‑time state funding and restrictions: staff detailed several one‑time state allocations that affect restricted funds and recommended using those dollars to preserve existing programs rather than creating new recurring commitments. The items included: - A Student Support and Professional Development discretionary block grant the district expects to receive of approximately $1.2 million (one‑time, restricted); staff recommended not using that money to start new ongoing programs. - An additional TK add‑on of $5,545 per eligible TK pupil, to be incorporated at first interim when attendance is recalculated. - A learning recovery emergency block grant top‑up of approximately $176,000; the expenditure deadline for that funding remains June 2028.

Attendance/ADA efforts: staff told trustees they contracted an outside expert to audit attendance reporting to identify any ADA that was not captured and to support recoupment if errors are found. The district also described attendance recovery strategies being developed at site levels (Saturday academies at the high school and expanded after‑school/ELOP programming) and reminded families that the census date for state data confirmation is the first Wednesday in October.

Board action (formal): The board approved the unaudited actuals for FY 2024–25 and the revised budget for FY 2025–26 by roll call vote. Trustees also approved the district’s annual developer fee report and other routine motions tied to the consent agenda earlier on the docket.

What this means: while the district ended the year with a modest one‑time increase in reserves, the attendance decline and projected out‑year gap mean administrators and trustees will need to track revenue, ADA, and expenditures closely and consider multi‑year strategies to address the structural shortfall.