Benicia Unified approves second interim report; board debates facility fees and transportation costs

The Benicia Unified School District Board of Trustees certified its 2024–25 second interim financial report as "positive" and debated a new facility-fee schedule and transportation costs during a March board meeting.

The district's chief business officer presented the second interim report, saying the district continued to project lower enrollment and reduced average daily attendance. The report showed projected district enrollment declining to about 4,294 and a funded ADA assumption near 95.15 percent; the district's projected ending general-fund balance for 2024–25 was roughly 11.05 percent. The report noted ongoing deficit spending that staff have reduced from a prior projection of roughly $3 million to about $2.4 million by adjusting vacancies and one-time expenditures.

Board members and members of the public pressed staff on the district's spending priorities. Public commenter Lisa Dolorafis, who said she has worked in the district for 36 years, criticized administrative spending relative to classroom staffing: "Budget being spent on administration has grown more significantly than that of the teachers," she said, and described charts showing administrative pay rising…