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Santa Rosa board approves 3rd interim after study session on May revise and special-education boost
Summary
Trustees unanimously approved the district's 3rd interim financial report after a study session where staff outlined how the governor's May revision's ongoing special-education increase and a super-COLA could affect the district's multi-year projections and near-term cash position.
The Santa Rosa City School Board on May 27 approved its 3rd interim financial report after a study session focused on the governor's May revision to the 2026–27 state budget and the district's multi-year projections.
School staff told trustees the May revise leaves many prior proposals in place but includes a significant, ongoing investment in special education that could add roughly $4.6 million to the district's revenue picture if it survives into the budget act. Joel, a fiscal-services analyst, explained that the state budget's main revenue drivers remain personal income, corporate and sales taxes and that growth is concentrated in capital-gains-driven sectors; that growth lifted Prop 98 funding assumptions and helped justify the special-education increase.
Luz Cazares, the district's presenting fiscal services lead, cautioned that much of the May revise's increases are one-time allocations and urged caution in treating them as ongoing revenue. She highlighted the difference between the statutory COLA (projected near 2.87%) and a proposed augmentation (a 1.44-point —3—2—2—2—2—2————————2————————increase) that would accompany a new statewide paid pregnancy-disability-leave requirement for districts.
Trustees asked detailed questions about timing, assumptions and risks: when the state budget becomes law (June 30), whether SELPA formula changes could reduce a district's share of special-education funding, and how one-time funds should be used. Staff said the proposed budget will be incorporated into the district's proposed budget and emphasized that the budget act must be finalized before any of the May revise dollars are treated as certain.
After the discussion, Trustee Dusty Jenkins moved to approve the 3rd interim; Trustee Prack seconded. The motion passed with a unanimous roll call vote.
What's next: staff said the proposed 2026–27 budget will return to the board in June with public hearings and an updated estimate of actuals for 2025–26; a 45-day update is scheduled after the state enacts its budget to reconcile final changes.
