California districts complain proposed state budget won’t cover expenses
Cost of living adjustment is smaller than they had assumed.
A fraction of 1 percent is creating stress for school superintendents.
California districts have been building their budgets for next year under the assumption they’ll get a 3 percent cost of living adjustment. Instead, Gov. Gavin Newsom has included an adjustment of only 2.29 percent for K-12 schools in 2020-21.
Districts are complaining that the difference — while less than three-quarters of 1 percent — is compounding an already financially fraught year, in which there’s not enough money to cover basic operating expenses. They argue they’re already facing steadily rising employee pension expenses, higher special education costs and the impact of an increase in the minimum wage. And half of the state’s districts have experienced a decline in enrollment over the past decade, compounding their dilemma, since revenue is tied to student attendance.
For a district like Elk Grove Unified, the state’s fifth-largest with about 60,000 students, the gap between the COLA that districts expected and what they’ll likely receive is $4.5 million. Statewide, it’s an average of $72 per student. To make up that $72 difference and a larger revenue shortfall, districts like Elk Grove that have squirreled away enough funding will likely deficit spend and draw down reserves. (For now, Elk Grove has a more immediate challenge. On Saturday, it became the first district to cancel school, for a week, after family members but no students had tested positive to the virus and were placed in quarantine.)
Some of those without adequate reserves are giving preliminary layoff notices to CONTINUE READING: California districts complain proposed state budget won’t cover expenses | EdSource
