Board files positive first interim budget; classified employees press for higher wages

Associate Superintendent Ron Toda led the board through the district's first interim budget: he explained the district's fund accounting, noted a $1.2 million add-on for TK, about $4.1 million in local revenue adjustments and roughly $4.5 million from a student-support/professional-development block grant. He cautioned that many of those increases are one-time funds and that the bond fund is projected to decline toward 2028 as NPR and renovation projects advance. "We are a district that is in deficit spending," Toda said, noting ongoing revenues show a projected $1.6 million deficit and the district is planning for enrollment declines that he said could lead to certificated reductions.

CSEA (classified employees) told the board it had surveyed members who said they want a meaningful wage increase even if phased; the union representative said the district's most recent offer to classified staff was much smaller than teacher one-time payments and spread across multiple paychecks. "That does not make a meaningful difference to our employees," the CSEA representative said, adding that the union identified more than $5 million in budget sources it believes could be used toward wages while maintaining fiscal soundness.

After discussion and trustee questions about lottery funds and textbook-adoption timing, the board voted by roll call to file a positive certification of the first interim budget. Trustees and the superintendent emphasized negotiations remain ongoing and that the multi-year projection must demonstrate solvency across three years for county review.