FUSD’s Board of Education continues its discussions on the Balanced Budget Process at the November 20th meeting
Staff Writer
The FUSD’s Board of Education held a meeting on Wednesday, November 20th, where the board presented the budget reduction plans informed by community input in October.
According to FUSD, due to declining enrollment, decreased revenue, rising costs, and the elimination of one-time pandemic funding, the board plans to reduce the budget by $34.3 million since the $25 million in planned deficit spending and the $9.3 million in one-time funds expired.
As per state law, FUSD has to maintain at least 3% of its budget as funds for the following two years. Therefore, if FUSD does not reduce its budget, it will be considered insolvent in 2026-2027.
At the board meeting, FUSD used a slideshow to present the budget-balancing proposals to the community. In the slideshow, the board also displayed the two options it has to address the balanced budget process. According to the board, the first option is to do nothing, which they suggest would result in FUSD going insolvent in 2026-2027. In this case, the California legislature would bail out FUSD with a 20-year loan, the district superintendent would be fired, and FUSD would lose local control.
On the other hand, the board said the second option is to collaboratively balance the budget. This consists of two meetings in December, in which the board will provide additional input to refine the reduction plans before taking action, and the chief business officer will present the first Interim Budget. The final meeting will occur on January 8, 2025, where the board will discuss revised reduction tiers and take its budget reduction actions.
The board used the latter part of the meeting to present all of the initial reduction scenarios to the public. These scenarios were informed by input gathered through the Budget Input Portal, community conversation forms, staff, PTA, and executive board meetings.
Examples of these scenarios include reductions in site and department budget discretionary funds, student services and library staffing, and instructional materials. These reductions alone could save the district between $50,000 and $5 million, but could also result in job losses and significantly impact students by reducing counseling, safety, and nursing services and the amount of educational materials supplied.
Balancing the budget is an ongoing process by the board and FUSD, and the final decision will not be known until January 8, 2025. Superintendent Burmeister called on FUSD communities to visit the re-opened budget input portal and provide specific feedback.
In his newsletter, he said, “By leaning on our collective resilience and exploring opportunities to secure ongoing funding, FUSD is confident it can navigate these challenges and emerge stronger together.”
The second option in the FUSD slide deck, presented to the Board, consists of the Budget Reduction Timeline where important dates of meetings are listed to display when actions regarding balancing the budget will be taken (Photo Credit: FUSD’s Balanced Budget Initial Scenarios Slides).
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