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Simi Valley Unified certifies second interim budget, seeks waiver to recoup lost attendance days
Summary
The board approved a positive certification of the district’s second interim budget and authorized submission of a J‑13 attendance waiver after staff described revenue impacts from power shutoffs and declines in ADA; staff cited about $1.8 million in potential recoupment from the waiver.
The Simi Valley Unified School District board approved a positive certification of its second interim budget and authorized staff to submit a J‑13 waiver to the state to recoup lost attendance days following districtwide power shutoffs.
Assistant Superintendent/Chief Business Officer Ron Toto presented the district’s second interim report, reviewing revenues, expenditures, cash‑flow projections and multi‑year forecasts. Toto said the district receives roughly $185 million annually in LCFF funding and that each instructional day is worth about $1 million; staff estimated the J‑13 waiver would recoup roughly $1.8 million (presented as close to $2 million) in Average Daily Attendance (ADA) funding lost during November and January emergency shutoffs.
Toto outlined how the district is using one‑time funds and other measures to bridge multi‑year gaps (reassigning restricted funds, surplus property transfers, a temporary reduction in reserves and operational reductions). He reported planned reductions of about 26 certificated FTE next year and other expenditure reductions totaling several million dollars across the multiyear projection. Finance staff noted federal special‑education funding remains well below the original 1970s promise and that federal dollars account for roughly 8–10% of the district budget.
After discussion, the board voted to approve the J‑13 waiver submission and to certify the second interim budget as positive. Trustees asked staff to continue pursuing options to improve ADA and to bring budget proposals for the 2025–26 fiscal year that reduce ongoing costs rather than rely on one‑time funds.
