Newman-Crows Landing Unified board approves first interim budget, staff urged to develop $2.5M cut plan

Board President Cabral said the Newman-Crows Landing Unified School District Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to approve the district's first interim budget report for fiscal year 2025—6 following a presentation by Chief Business Officer Miss Tapia.

Tapia told trustees the first interim is a projection based on data through Oct. 31 and is the district's "first opportunity" to revisit the budget adopted in June. "It is a projection. It is only as good as this very moment and what we know currently," she said, urging trustees to view the figures as a baseline that may change with new information.

The presentation described several adjustments since the adopted budget: enrollment was reduced from 3,030 to 2,981, the district adjusted its current-year ADA assumption slightly upward to 95.03%, and the unduplicated pupil percentage used for supplemental concentration funding fell from an assumed ~74.25% to a certified 66.99%, a change Tapia said produced about a $400,000 adjustment. Tapia also noted modest federal carryover funds for Title programs and state grant increases tied to Prop. 28 and a youth behavioral health initiative in partnership with Santa Clara County.

Tapia identified a discretionary block grant of about $890,000 that the district has begun to receive and said overall revenue increased roughly 1.5% between the adopted budget and the first interim while expenses rose about 2.1%. She listed salary step-and-column movements and negotiated items as the largest drivers of increased expenditures and said the district is prioritizing spending down one-time grants such as UPK and carryover COVID-era funds.

On the multiyear projection, Tapia said staff reduced higher out-year assumptions to reflect current trends and reinserted labor previously paid with one-time funds into unrestricted assumptions for a conservative outlook. "We are, as of this very moment... meeting our obligations for the current and the 2 following years," Tapia said when asking trustees to certify the report.

Board members pressed staff on the scale and timing of cuts needed to avoid continued deficit spending. Board President Cabral said the district is "deficit spending, you know, almost $5,000,000 this year alone" and urged action to stop the trend. Tapia and staff described how front-loading reductions in 2026—6 would lessen pressure in later years; staff modeled that a $2.5 million cut next year would yield a roughly 7.5% reserve next year and exceed the board's 8% reserve policy in the following year.

Trustees also questioned whether improved ADA was driven by in-seat attendance or short-term independent study. A board member said she feared communicating a 15-day independent-study allowance could signal to families that extended absences were acceptable; Tapia responded that independent study was not heavily relied on in the district's ADA assumption and that the district would continue to prioritize in-seat attendance for student learning.

After discussion, a trustee moved and a second approved the recommendation to accept the first interim report. The board voted aye: Mr. Watt, Ms. Gonzales, Mr. Rivas, Ms. Rudy and Ms. Corrales. The motion passed.

The board was told the district requested and received an extension for the 2024—5 financial audit (new deadline Jan. 29) and that staff will return in January with further budget details tied to the governor's January proposal and additional federal guidance. The meeting adjourned at 5:46 p.m.