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Redwood City board reviews proposed $150.2 million budget; trustees warned bargaining impacts will appear in 45-day revision
Summary
Finance staff presented a proposed 2026-27 general fund of about $150.2 million, projected 81.7% of expenditures for salaries and benefits and a STRS employer rate cited at about 19.1%. Staff said tentatively negotiated agreements with labor groups are not yet included and will be reflected in the 45-day revision after ratification.
District finance staff presented the proposed Redwood City School District general fund budget for 2026-27 during a public hearing on June 17 and reminded trustees the board is scheduled to consider adoption June 24.
Rick, the district's budget presenter, outlined the presentation's major assumptions: enrollment and average daily attendance projections for 2026-27 and the two out years, a modest consumer-price/COLA assumption, an employer STRS rate projected at about 19.1% and anticipated modest relief in PERS rates as investment returns improved. He said the district is projecting an unduplicated pupil percentage near 59.3%, a figure that drives LCFF supplemental/concentration allocations.
On revenue and expenditures, staff said the proposed general fund is approximately $150.2 million and that roughly 81.7% of the district's projected expenditures would be for certificated and classified salaries and benefits. The presentation noted multi-year fiscal-stabilization work over the last two years that resulted in roughly $12 million of reductions and right-sizing in response to declining enrollment.
Rick emphasized the multi-year projection through 2028-29 shows reserves above the board's minimum 3% requirement. Crucially, he told trustees the district's multi-year projection does not include the recent tentative agreement with the teachers association or the management agreement; the fiscal impacts of ratified agreements will be incorporated in the 45-day budget revision after formal ratification.
Other details: staff reported other-fund balances (funds 12, 13, 14, 21, 35 and 40) as positive but said fund 21 is projected to decline to about $3.3 million next year. They reported an excess reserve of about $253,723 above the 3% minimum, of which about $80,000 is needed for revolving cash and prepaid items and the remainder is available for unanticipated costs.
Trustees asked follow-up questions about service-and-operating expense variability (special-education contract cost drivers were cited) and sought clarity that the board has no control over the STRS employer contribution rate, which staff confirmed is set by state statute. The board closed the budget hearing with no immediate changes; staff said the formal adoption will be taken at the June 24 meeting and any collective-bargaining impacts will be visible in the August 45-day revision.
The budget packet, multi-year projections and related attachments were included in the board agenda materials, the presenter said.
