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Benicia Unified projects positive reserves but flags uncertainty over proposed "super COLA" and paid pregnancy leave
Summary
CFO Trudy Barrington told trustees the district projects 15.8% reserves for 2026-27 but cautioned assumptions depend on enrollment and state action; the governor's proposed 4.31% "super COLA" would include a 1.44% mandate for paid pregnancy disability leave and the district budgeted for related staffing costs.
Trudy Barrington presented the proposed 2026-27 budget, walking trustees through revenue and expenditure assumptions and the district's multi-year projections. She described effects from the state May revise, noting the proposed reduction in state withholding from $5.6 billion to $3.9 billion and a governor-proposed "super COLA" of 4.31 percent (a statutory 2.87 percent plus a proposed 1.44 percent).
Barrington explained that the 1.44 percent component is proposed with a mandate to fund paid pregnancy disability leave locally. The district's working projection budgets 10 certificated and 5 classified positions to cover potential leave, with the known births portion of that projection estimated at about $334,000. "So in 2627, if everything holds true... our reserves at this point look to be 15.8%," she said, while emphasizing those projections do not include any future negotiated settlements.
Other budget details included a proposed special education per-ADA adjustment in state funding from about $960 to $1,340 per ADA and an expected Mills Elementary rental revenue of just under $170,000 next year. Barrington noted restricted and one-time funding sources (including a possible Student Support and Professional Development Discretionary Block Grant) could materially affect projections depending on the final state budget and trailer language.
Trustees pressed on sustainability and the out-years. Multiple trustees described the "super COLA" label as misleading because the additional 1.44 percent is tied to a mandate; one trustee characterized the label a "misnomer" and warned it could produce false hope if the state later suspends or does not sustain the augmentation. Barrington and the superintendent urged continued advocacy through CSBA and other channels to press the state for fuller, ongoing funding.
Barrington closed by outlining next steps: the budget will return for adoption after the board adopts the LCAP and the district will present unaudited actuals in September and an update after the governor signs the state budget.
