Board adopts grouped consent items and hears warnings about multiyear structural deficit

The Inglewood Unified School District board on June 25 approved a series of consent and contract items and received a budget presentation that outlined a narrowing reserve picture over the next three fiscal years.

Approvals at a glance: the board approved human resources items 9a129a7, educational services items (including 30 no-cost contract amendments) 9b19b65, business services items 9c19c11, Measure G/GI facilities items 9d19d3 and county administrator items 9e19e3. The meeting record states these groups "are each approved"; transcript does not include a roll-call vote tally in the spoken record.

Budget summary and outlook: Rafael Guzman summarized the draft 202526ndash;26 budget and multiyear projections. He reported an anticipated ending cash balance near $134,000,000 for the current year and projected an unrestricted ending balance of about $54,000,000 for FY 202526ndash;26. Multiyear projections show the unrestricted reserve falling to roughly $33.0M in a subsequent year and to about $7.6M in out-years if no corrective actions are taken.

Guzman said a $3.3 million decrease in LCFF revenue is modeled in 202526ndash;26 tied to post-COVID ADA normalization and noted anticipated increases in employee health and welfare costs (projected at about 8% annually). He also explained why employee-benefit lines rise in the budget: a recently issued supplemental early-retirement program (SERP) shifts costs into the benefits line. "We are deficit spending when we compare...because of just the lower amount of revenues that we received," Guzman said, and recommended expanding the districts fiscal stabilization plan and using the budget advisory committee to identify options.

Public and trustee response: During public comment, speakers asked for clearer fiscal detail on agenda listings, questioned whether bond funds had been repurposed compared with what voters were told, and requested monitoring of large professional-services contracts. Trustee comments during the budget discussion praised conservative use of one-time dollars in prior years and urged staff to return with specific deficit-reduction proposals at first interim.

Next steps: Guzman said the district will issue a 45-day revision to incorporate changes signed by the governor and will refine first interim projections after students settle into school sites; staff will update the fiscal stabilization plan and continue meetings with the budget advisory committee.