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Budget preview: Redondo projects modest revenue gain and a 13% reserve; staff outlines committed strategic funds
Summary
Deputy superintendent presented the 2025'26 budget preview, projecting a conservative $1.88 million revenue increase (effective COLA reduced by enrollment), $133 million in total revenues, and a projected reserve around 13% after committed strategic-plan funds; staff said federal funds are about $2.6 million and that committed funds total $9.57 million remaining.
District finance staff briefed the board on the 2025'26 budget and reserve disclosures, outlining assumptions, projected revenue and the district's committed strategic-plan funds.
Deputy Superintendent Annette Alpern described the three views used in district budgeting (un-audited actuals, interim reports and next-year projections) and said the adopted budget is conservative pending the final state budget in July. She summarized assumptions behind the projections: a statutory COLA that is tempered by declining enrollment, an assumed 0.5% annual enrollment decline, and an attendance rate used for funded ADA calculations.
Alpern said the district projects roughly $133 million in total revenues for 2025'26 and that about 95% of those revenues come from the state. On expenditures she said roughly 83% of spending is on salaries and benefits. District staff explained a projected $1.88 million net revenue increase in 2025'26 that becomes about $600K after employer retirement contributions and other built-in obligations.
On reserves and committed funds, the finance presentation noted an original $16 million strategic-plan commitment, with about $6 million spent and $9.57 million remaining to support strategic-plan initiatives such as curriculum adoptions, vehicle purchases and AI committee work. Alpern also walked board members through the district's ending fund balance calculations and said staff expect a year-end reserve in the low-to-mid teens percentage-wise (presented projection: about 13.09%).
Board members pressed staff on federal-exposure scenarios; Alpern said the district receives approximately $2.6 million in federal funds and that the reserve is sufficient to cover potential federal reductions cited hypothetically during discussion. Staff noted that some anticipated state items (for example, smaller-class TK funding) were not assumed in the district's conservative adopted budget and would be folded into a revised budget after the state budget is finalized.
Alpern concluded by describing next steps: budget adoption next week, submission to the Los Angeles County Office of Education for review, and a 45-day revision once the state budget is final.
