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Santa Ana Unified lays out 2026–27 budget plan, LCAP alignment and committee savings
Summary
The district presented estimated actuals for 2025–26 and a proposed 2026–27 budget tied to the Local Control Accountability Plan, outlined zero‑based budgeting savings and committee proposals to reduce costs in procurement, energy, hotspots and consultants, and previewed next steps including the 45‑day revision after the state finalizes trailer bill language.
The Santa Ana Unified School District presented its 2026–27 proposed budget and an update on the district’s Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) at the board meeting on June 9, laying out assumptions from the state May Revise, multi‑year projections, and committee recommendations to reduce structural deficit spending.
Budget highlights and assumptions
District financial staff — including Jennifer Cisnos (executive director of finance and operations) and the district’s chief business official Ron — reported a projected 2025–26 ending fund balance of approximately $195.4 million and a projected increase in unrestricted ending fund balance to about $100 million for the year. Presenters said assumptions imported from the state May Revise include a higher cost‑of‑living adjustment than statutory COLA and continuing uncertainty about one‑time allocations until trailer bills are finalized. Enrollment and Average Daily Attendance (ADA) continue to decline; demographer models project enrollment dipping below 30,000 in 2027–28, which would change the district’s required reserve percentage and is a primary fiscal risk.
"We are working to narrow the structural deficit," the CBO said, outlining that salary and benefits represent roughly 83% of the budget and that the district used zero‑based budgeting and tightened purchasing to reduce projected expenditures. The district plans to use a 45‑day budget revision process after the state adopts trailer bills to incorporate final revenue figures.
LCAP alignment and tracking
Dr. W presented the LCAP structure — a three‑year plan that aligns board priorities to program actions and measurable metrics — and showed how the district has embedded LCAP goal/action codes into its financial account strings (Business Plus) so spending tied to specific LCAP actions can be tracked across the district’s $800M+ budget.
Committee recommendations and operational savings
The Community Budget Advisory Committee (CBAC) and five internal committees reported concrete steps aimed at savings and efficiency: - Enrollment & ADA committee: streamlined enrollment windows and improved communications to capture transfer requests; exploring partnerships and a multi‑tier attendance support model to reduce chronic absenteeism by 3 percent. - Facilities: rebid major service contracts, pursue energy information systems, and plan preventive maintenance and solar repairs to lower long‑term costs; Monroe Elementary design was completed and will seek state grants. - Organizational efficiency: consolidated video conferencing to Google Meet and reorganized hotspot distribution and monitoring; a hotspot review identified roughly $339,000 in annual savings and the district expects about $129,000 annual subscription savings from standardizing conferencing tools. - Site funding and athletics: centralized and clarified site funding for intramural sports and high school athletics; the committee is piloting centralization and evaluating equitable funding models to maintain extracurricular pathways that support student connectedness. - Special education committee: examining high‑cost contracts (language services, non‑public agencies), position control, transportation routing, and in‑house capacity to reduce outsourcing and litigation exposure.
Next steps
Board members asked for data on specific line items (for example, cell phone stipends and consultant contracts), and staff committed to provide details through board packets and future committee reports. The board will hold public hearings and is scheduled to adopt the budget and LCAP at the next board meeting; staff will return with audited actuals and the August 45‑day revision after state trailer bills are finalized.
Quotes from the presentation
"Keeping students in seats is how we get paid — but more importantly, students learn when they attend," the CBO said, emphasizing the budgetary and educational impact of attendance. Rebecca Sackett, chair of CBAC, thanked staff and volunteers and said the committee’s work connected district staff to site realities, ensuring that contract reviews and procurement changes were informed by frontline experience.
The board received the budget presentation and held public hearings consistent with requirement; no final adoption took place that night but trustees directed staff to return with the final adoption items after the statutory process completes.
