Brea Olinda Unified projects a tighter 2024-25 budget as enrollment and low COLA cut revenue
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Summary
District fiscal staff presented the proposed 2024-25 budget showing LCFF as the dominant revenue source (~$69M), forecasted multi‑year deficits and enrollment shortfalls — especially in transitional kindergarten — and said a final adoption will be considered June 27 after state budget clarity and interim adjustments.
District fiscal staff laid out the proposed 2024-25 budget in a public hearing, warning that lower-than-expected state COLA estimates and declining enrollment will tighten revenues and likely require adjustments in later budget iterations.
Assistant Superintendent Rick Champion framed the presentation around uncertainty in the state budget and the impacts on school funding. "The state's 1 time adjustments to the ongoing issues... The growing multiyear deficits are still gonna have to be addressed," Champion said, noting the Legislature and governor were still finalizing details and that the district will use interims to update assumptions.
Champion showed the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) as the district's largest revenue source, projecting roughly $69 million next year and noting federal Title funds total about $717,000. He said the statutory COLA planning factor used for budgeting was about 1.07% for the district's planning assumptions, a drop from earlier higher estimates, and demonstrated how that lowers per-student funding compared with prior projections.
A key budget risk is enrollment, Champion said, calling TK enrollment the most difficult to project. He cited a specific example: Laurel's TK enrollment was 8 students versus an earlier interim projection of 23, leaving the district roughly 80 TK slots below projection overall. "The hardest thing to project is the TK enrollment," he said. "As of this report, it's about 80 kiddos down versus projections."
Champion presented the combined general fund picture showing roughly $94 million in revenue against $99 million in expenditures for an initial budget that includes deficit spending and carryover in some restricted funds. He highlighted specific subfund pressures: food service (Fund 13) may require planned spending down of unusually high fund balances; capital facilities (Fund 40) is projected at about $37 million for modernization projects; and Prop 28 arts funding requires reporting and site-level accounting.
Staff outlined next steps: continued monitoring of the state budget, interim adjustments to enrollment and ADA assumptions, and formal budget adoption at the June 27 board meeting with the option for revisions in August if state trailer bills or enrollment changes require it.
Quotes and follow-ups: Champion emphasized the district will continue to refine budget numbers with fiscal staff and return a final budget for board consideration at the next meeting. Board members suggested community outreach to boost TK and kindergarten registration during summer months.
