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Calexico Unified trustees approve 2025-26 budget and LCAP and ratify superintendent contract
Summary
Trustees unanimously adopted the 2025-26 budget and the districts Local Control and Accountability Plan, and approved a new employment contract for Superintendent Arturo Jimenez after an oral summary of compensation provisions. Officials cited enrollment declines and an energy project that will affect multiyear projections.
The Calexico Unified School District board on June 30 adopted the districts 202526#8211;26 budget and estimated actuals, approved the 202526#8211;26 Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) and authorized an employment contract for Superintendent Arturo Jimenez, each action passing on unanimous 526#8211;0 votes.
The budget vote followed a detailed presentation by the districts assistant superintendent and chief business official, who described the estimated actuals and the conservative assumptions used to prepare the July 1 budget. The staff projected an improvement to the districts projected ending fund balance of $3,027,055 compared with the second interim and noted a projected funding shortfall tied to the difference between enrollment and average daily attendance (ADA) that the district estimated at about $5.7 million. "Bottom line, at estimated actuals, we're forecasting an improvement to our projected ending fund balance of $3,027,055," the CBO said during the presentation.
Trustees heard staff describe funding risks including uncertainty in the governor's May revision, a projected 2.3% COLA in planning assumptions, federal grants that make up about 7.5% of revenue, and salary-and-benefit costs that represent over 72% of projected expenditures. The presentation also highlighted capital outlays tied to the districts Energy Infrastructure Modernization Project, which the district is financing in part with a Bank of America loan and expects to recoup via federal and state incentives and grants in later years.
Board members pressed staff for clarity on enrollment projections and the assumptions behind them. District staff confirmed the district engaged SchoolWorks for enrollment projections and described a cohort-survival method used to model future classes. Trustees asked for a Calexico-only 10-year enrollment table to be provided at a later date and requested ongoing monitoring of the energy-project savings.
Before the budget vote, trustees also approved the districts LCAP for 202526#8211;26. Staff who presented on the LCAP showed self-reflection-tool results and parent-survey data used to inform the plan, including 1,111 parent survey responses and areas the district prioritized for improvement such as parent engagement and instructional materials.
On the superintendent contract, the board complied with the Brown Act requirement to orally summarize proposed compensation before taking final action. The oral summary laid out salary, step increases contingent on satisfactory annual evaluations, health and welfare benefits on terms consistent with other administrators, vacation accrual and payout options, sick leave under Education Code provisions, and an executive-coach allowance capped at $10,000 annually. After the oral summary and without public comment on the item, trustees approved the superintendent's employment contract by a 526#8211;0 vote.
What happens next: the approved July 1 budget will be used as the districts initial fiscal plan for 202526#8211;26 and will be updated at subsequent interim reporting periods as enrollment and state funding become clearer. Trustees asked staff to bring additional enrollment trend data and to track the realization of energy-project savings to inform future budget adjustments.
