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CFO outlines 2025–26 budget calendar, enrollment decline and preliminary assumptions to trustees
Summary
Chief Financial Officer Sandy Poteet briefed trustees on the governor’s budget proposal, projected enrollment decline to 3,611 ADA, a 2.43% COLA assumption and timing for May revision and June adoption steps.
Sandy Poteet, the district’s chief financial officer, presented the preliminary budget development calendar and assumptions for the 2025–26 fiscal year and reviewed external and internal drivers that will shape the budget.
Poteet said the governor’s January proposal currently includes a fully funded cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) estimated at 2.43% and that the state is monitoring volatile revenue, in part because capital gains drive a large share of California revenue. “The governor has fully funded the COLA, which is currently estimated at 2.43%,” she said.
Poteet outlined several items that are uncertain and too early to include in the district’s budget model: a one‑time Proposition 98 discretionary block grant, a partial restoration of the Learning Recovery Block Grant and potential funding tied to full implementation of universal transitional kindergarten (UTK) — including a new student‑to‑adult ratio proposal of 10:1 for TK classrooms.
On local drivers, Poteet said the district is projecting continued enrollment decline, estimating 3,611 students for 2025–26 and an overall average daily attendance (ADA) factor of about 94%. She explained the district uses a cohort method for enrollment projections and noted the forecast excludes state preschool and federally funded programs that are budgeted separately.
Poteet reviewed major assumptions used in the district’s LCFF (Local Control Funding Formula) calculations including the 2.43% COLA, the projected ADA and an unduplicated pupil percentage of about 28% for supplemental and concentration grants. She also described personnel and benefits assumptions: CalSTRS employer rate at 19.10% and an estimated CalPERS rate near 27.4% for 2025–26, with a 7% health‑insurance budget assumption.
Next steps: Poteet said the district will update planning factors after the governor’s May revision and will finalize staffing, site and department allocations before publishing the budget for public inspection in mid‑June. The public hearing on the budget and the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) is scheduled for June 9, with anticipated adoption on June 23.
Questions from trustees focused on statewide revenue timing, potential tax‑collection delays and the impact of natural disasters on state receipts. Poteet explained how late tax filings and concentrated county revenue (Los Angeles County) could affect statewide certification of Proposition 98 and thereby the final education appropriation.
