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SFUSD finance team says 3rd-interim would support a 'positive' certification after vacancy and spending adjustments
Summary
Finance staff told the board their third-interim report includes vacancy savings, tightened supply/service budgets and negotiated salary adjustments that move the district toward a positive fiscal certification, while warning of multi-year benefit-cost pressures.
SFUSD's finance team presented the 2025—6 3rd-interim financial report and told trustees their recommended certification "would be positive" if the assumptions and savings hold. The budget narrative emphasized vacancy savings, tightened allocations for supplies and services, and accounting moves that reduced projected deficits compared with the 2nd interim.
Budget director (speaker 46) said the district captured roughly $32.3 million from 334 vacant FTEs and about $69.7 million in underspent supplies and materials budgets to bolster fund balance. "If we were self certifying right now, would be positive," the chief budget officer stated, adding that staff plan to shift eligible expenses to restricted funds where appropriate so the unrestricted general-fund balance remains available to cover forecasted deficits.
Board members asked for follow-up detail on special-education contributions, nonpublic-agency (NPA) spending and a clearer public dashboard of contracts and year-to-date expenditures. Staff agreed to provide more granular special-education budget details and noted that benefit-cost escalation is the largest long-term driver of the projected third-year shortfall — staff used a working assumption of ~10% annual health-cost growth and a projected enrollment decline of about 500 students per year.
