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Chico Unified board approves resolution to pursue preschool funding, accepts 2024–25 unaudited actuals
Summary
The Chico Unified School District board unanimously approved Resolution 1703-25 to continue state funding for seven preschool classrooms and accepted the district's 2024–25 unaudited actuals, which show a $7.7 million general-fund balance and a $22.7 million special-education contribution.
The Chico Unified School District Board of Education on Sept. 17 voted unanimously to approve Resolution 1703-25, an application to continue state funding for the district’s seven state preschool classrooms, and to accept the district’s 2024–25 unaudited actuals.
“Each year we'll bring this resolution to you and it is to approve the application … to continue our funding for running our seven state preschool classrooms,” Heather Suentes, director of elementary education, told the board as she introduced the resolution. Board members signaled broad support and the measure passed by roll-call vote.
Later in the meeting finance staff presented the district’s unaudited actuals for the 2024–25 fiscal year. “Unaudited actuals represent actual revenues and expenditures for the year,” a district presenter said in opening the financial briefing. The district reported a $7.7 million general fund ending balance—larger than the $3.5 million surplus projected in April—after year-end adjustments including a $1.6 million fair-market-value cash adjustment.
The presentation noted several large items affecting the general fund. The district’s special-education contribution (encroachment) was reported at about $22.7 million for 2024–25, slightly down from the prior year after a 14% increase in the 2022–23 to 2023–24 period. The district applied roughly $1.1 million from a discretionary block grant to help offset that encroachment.
Staff also described steps to recoup attendance-based funding. Because average daily attendance fell in 2024–25, the district used prior-year ADA for Local Control Funding Formula purposes; staff said an attendance-recovery effort this school year will coordinate with afterschool programming and independent-study options to help students receive credit for missed days.
Auditors are scheduled to begin on-site work Sept. 29; the district expects to return to the board with audited financials in January. The board then voted unanimously to accept the unaudited actuals.
Votes at a glance - Consent calendar: approved, unanimous. - Resolution 1703-25 (preschool funding application): approved, unanimous. - Acceptance of 2024–25 unaudited actuals: approved, unanimous.
What happens next Auditors will conduct the final audit beginning Sept. 29; staff will report audited results to the board in January and continue implementing attendance-recovery measures and strategies to mitigate special-education encroachment.
