Superintendent warns of multiple state bills that could reshape school revenue; board to study policy changes
Summary
Superintendent briefed the Fairfield Union Local board on several legislative proposals (including HB186, HB129, HB309, HB335 and a Senate proposal by Senator Brenner) that could limit local levy revenue and require policy changes; district staff will research implications and return with recommendations.
At the board meeting, the superintendent told members that several state proposals threaten to alter how schools collect local revenue and require policy updates.
"House bill 186... would cap property tax collections at the three‑year rate of inflation," the superintendent said while summarizing pending bills. He listed four measures the district is monitoring — HB186, HB129, HB309 and HB335 — and described their shared focus on limiting or changing levy collections and local levy authority. He also referenced a Senate proposal by Senator Brenner that would eliminate local levies and move to a state‑level per‑pupil funding model, cautioning that its details and fiscal impact remain uncertain.
The superintendent said the district has already been working through a large set of policy updates (about 55 policies) to conform language after the recent budget bill and House Bill 96; he warned that differing guidance from the Department of Higher Education (referred to in the meeting as 'DEW'), attorneys and the OSBA means administrators will need time to reconcile interpretations before bringing firm policy recommendations back to the board.
He highlighted potential academic implications related to weighted grading: guidance tied to career‑technical (CTE) courses and College Credit Plus (CCP) courses could require retroactive grade weighting for students, which "could influence valedictorian, salutatorian for this year as well as future years," he said.
The superintendent asked the board for patience while administrators 'pull all those together' and committed to returning with clearer proposals, including possible policy changes on gifted and special education once legal guidance is settled.
