Governing board approves $4.8 million budget-reduction plan after negative interim certification
Summary
The board approved a $4.8 million 2026-27 budget-reduction plan and will remain under negative interim certification until layoff resolutions are finalized; presenters cited enrollment decline, special-education costs and exhausted one-time grants as key drivers.
The governing board approved a revised budget-reduction plan totaling $4,800,000 for the 2026–27 fiscal year during a special meeting on Jan. 27, voting 5-0 to adopt the package.
The vote followed a presentation in which the district’s finance presenter said the district had filed a negative interim budget certification, “which means that the district will not meet its financial obligations in the current and subsequent fiscal year.” The presenter outlined the main drivers: a multi-year enrollment decline, rising special-education costs and the expiration of one-time federal block grants.
The presenter said enrollment fell from 4,731 in 2017–18 to about 4,148 for 2025–26 — a decline of roughly 583 students — and estimated that decline reduced revenue by about $9 million, “the size of one elementary school.” Special-education costs were estimated at $15.5 million for the current fiscal year, with federal and state revenues covering about $5 million and the general fund contributing roughly $10.5 million. The presenter added that the district’s special-education population is about 20 percent of students, above the state average of 15 percent.
Other budget pressures cited included a low cost-of-living adjustment (2.3 percent in the current year), increases in health and welfare benefits and pension costs, and the full expenditure of one-time discretionary block grants (about $1.6 million). The presenter said the district had negotiated salary adjustments (a 1 percent schedule increase in January 2026 and a further 2 percent in July 2026) and raised the full-time employee health-benefit cap to $13,260; the total estimated cost of that package was presented as $2.3 million.
The presenter said federal-program reductions remain uncertain and that the district will continue to report a negative certification in its second interim financial report in March 2026 until layoff resolutions are finalized. The district hopes to adopt a stable 2026–27 budget in June and regain a qualified or positive certification by the first interim report in December 2026.
Board members asked for additional detail during the discussion, including which outside legal and investigative costs are available in public records. The board voted to approve the revised budget-reduction plan after a motion and second; the roll call on the approval was recorded as aye by five members with no nay votes or abstentions.
The board’s formal action does not itself list individual layoffs; the presenter said layoff resolutions must be finalized before the district’s certification status can change. The district said audits and reports (including external audits scheduled for March) will be posted publicly via board agendas and the district’s online materials.
The board adjourned later the same evening.
