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Trustees adopt 2025‑26 budget; officials warn attendance shortfall cut current fiscal year revenue by about $810,000
Summary
The board adopted the district's 2025‑26 budget and multi‑year projections. Staff reported a lower‑than‑expected average daily attendance (ADA) in the current year (93.6 percent versus a budgeted 94.5 percent), which reduced state revenue by about $810,000 and informed multi‑year reductions and transfers.
The Western Placer Unified School District Board of Trustees adopted the 2025‑26 budget Thursday, accepting staff’s multi‑year projections and a set of reductions the board previously approved to preserve structural balance.
Finance staff presented the adopted budget and the multi‑year projection. The district expects total general fund revenues for 2025‑26 of approximately $123.4 million and modeled multi‑year impacts that included previously approved reductions: $5.3 million in reductions to 2025‑26 and an additional $2.6 million in 2026‑27. Staff said the projected ending unrestricted balance for 2025‑26 would be roughly $403,000 after required reserves and set‑asides.
Finance staff told the board the district’s current‑year average daily attendance (ADA) — the state funding metric — closed at 93.6 percent, below the budget assumption of 94.5 percent. Staff estimated the gap reduced state revenue in the current year by about $810,000. The presenter said the district will prioritize attendance outreach next year, stressing that California school funding is tied to student attendance rather than enrollment.
The adopted budget reflects several operational assumptions: modest enrollment growth (with particularly strong TK growth), a 2.3 percent cost‑of‑living adjustment in the first year of the projection, and targeted staffing adjustments to match projected enrollment. Transfers include a $250,000 contribution to the deferred maintenance fund for 2025‑26 and other routine transfers.
The board approved the budget in a motion and will return in August with updates after the state final budget is signed and again in September when preliminary actuals are available. Staff cautioned that certain state items — such as expanded transitional kindergarten funding and a one‑time discretionary block grant — were not included in the adopted budget pending final state action.
"Districts receive state funds when students attend school; no funds are received when students are absent," the presenter emphasized while explaining how ADA affects revenue.
