Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Enrollment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Calexico Unified reports 1,190-student decline over six years and warns of multi‑million‑dollar revenue gap
Summary
District business staff told the board Calexico Unified has lost roughly 1,190 students in six years, and explained how declines in average daily attendance and state funding create a structural budget gap that staffing reductions alone cannot close.
Calexico Unified School District staff told the board the district has lost about 1,190 students over the past six years and outlined the financial consequences of that decline.
"Calexico Unified School District has declined by 1,190 students over the past six years," Luis Elator, the district's assistant superintendent of business services, said during a presentation on enrollment and financial impact. He said the decline averages nearly 200 students per year and accounted for about 44% of Imperial County's overall enrollment decline while the district represents roughly 23% of county enrollment.
Elator emphasized that state funding is tied to average daily attendance (ADA), not just enrollment, and that staffing adjustments cover only a fraction of the revenue lost when students stop attending. Using an illustrative example, the presentation showed that cutting four teacher full‑time equivalents at an assumed $100,000 average salary would save about $400,000, while the state allocation for 120 fewer students at an $18,000 per‑student average would be about $2.3 million — leaving a multi‑million‑dollar shortfall.
A follow-on presenter reviewed initial 2026–27 projections by school and said most campuses are projected to decline, with small projected increases at Willie Moreno and Calexico High School. The district also reported a final attendance rate for 2024–25 (P3) of 92.66% and said it has implemented attendance-recovery initiatives including Saturday school and summer recovery, and has seen reductions in chronic absenteeism and suspensions on the California Dashboard.
Trustees pressed staff for metrics on attendance-recovery programs and asked for a future report on how many students are returning through Saturday and summer programs. Several trustees stressed community outreach and programmatic efforts to keep students engaged as central ways to blunt future losses.
Why it matters: Declining enrollment reduces state revenue and forces districts to choose between program cuts, reconfigured sites and staffing reductions. District leaders said they are pursuing staffing adjustments, facility planning and attendance-recovery programs but warned the district must plan for sustained revenue loss.
Next steps: Trustees requested follow-up information on the outcomes of attendance-recovery programs, the cost‑saving timeline for staffing changes, and capacity/utilization data to inform future decisions on building use and program placement.
