Benicia Unified projects $3.1 million operating shortfall as enrollment declines; parcel tax and foundation eyed

Benicia Unified School District Superintendent Damon Wright warned attendees at the district’s State of the District event that the district faces a projected $3,100,000 operating deficit and shrinking reserves unless steps are taken to stabilize revenue and reduce costs.

Wright said the district’s funded average daily attendance (ADA) is 4,129 and that current enrollment is 4,347 students, a decline he estimated as 15.3% from the district’s peak. He told the audience that about 15% of students live outside district boundaries as inter-district enrollees, which he credited with blunting a steeper drop in enrollment.

Those enrollment patterns, plus the scheduled end of several one-time grants and an unresolved shortfall in special-education funding, are central to the district’s fiscal strain, Wright said. “Since 2020, our district received approximately $14,000,000 in one-time funding,” he said, adding that those grants “are not ongoing. Once the grant period ends,…