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Moreno Valley Unified budget update flags enrollment shortfall and state deferrals, COE monitoring advised
Summary
District business staff told the board the adopted 2025–26 budget incorporates a 2.3% COLA but current enrollment is roughly 100 students below the projection of 30,574; state deferrals and projected deficit spending mean the county office of education called out enrollment, deficit and one-time funding as monitoring priorities.
Chief business officer Susanna Lopez presented the district’s early 2025–26 budget and enrollment update and warned trustees of cash-flow risks tied to state deferrals and lower-than-expected student counts.
Lopez told the board the state signed the budget on June 27, 2025, and the district had already incorporated the statutory 2.3% cost-of-living adjustment in its adopted budget. She explained how state “deferrals” — scheduled delays in when the state sends owed funds — can compress cash flow and that districts must monitor the timing of those payments. "762 students is a lot of money. It's about $12,000,000 less in LCFF revenues," Lopez said when describing the financial stakes of enrollment variance.
The district’s adopted projection for 2025–26 was 30,574 students; as of the day’s update campus enrollment was 30,477 — about 97 students fewer than projected. Lopez highlighted that kindergarten was more than 200 students below projections while transitional kindergarten exceeded projections by more than 100, driving class consolidation and TK additions at multiple sites. Staff said warm-body counts and daily monitoring are in effect and that enrollment often stabilizes by the third week of school or by Labor Day.
Lopez also told trustees she had received a draft letter from the county office of education acknowledging the adopted budget and LCAP but flagging three areas for continued monitoring: enrollment/ADA, use of one-time funds to cover ongoing expenditures, and unrestricted deficit spending in out-year projections. The district signaled steps to respond: reviewing staffing allocations, scrutinizing contracts and travel, and preparing the unaudited actuals and first interim reports on the usual schedule.
Next steps: unaudited actuals will be presented at the next board meeting, a first interim is due in December and staff will continue daily enrollment monitoring and outreach to sites to reconcile warm-body counts with the district’s enrollment figures.
