SFUSD Board of Education Recap and Highlights

This month’s highlight is on SFUSD’s budget projections and plans to balance large projected deficits

Budget Background:

Over the past several years, budget projections and reports have shown that SFUSD is facing a structural deficit. This means that there is a fundamental imbalance: more money is being spent every year than there are dollars of revenue. There is not just one reason, but a variety of factors that have led to this result, including increased costs for certain required expenses, like funding teacher pensions, or special education services, decreases in enrollment which means less money allocated to SFUSD by the state.

School districts across the state and country are facing similar challenges as a result of the pandemic, especially as it relates to enrollment. It is also true that even pre-pandemic, public education has been under-resourced, especially in California since the passage of Prop 13.

SFUSD Enrollment Declines Compared to State and National averages. Source: https://go.boarddocs.com/ca/sfusd/Board.nsf/files/C7LVAW7FDC8D/$file/21%20-%2010.12%20FY%202021-22%20SFUSD%20Enrollment%20Data_PRESENTATION.pdf

SFUSD has patched the growing gaps in recent years by using reserves, Federal, State, and local recovery funds, and other “one-time” or special sources. District leaders continue to look for new revenue sources and advocate for more funding from the state, but despite these efforts, the current projections show estimated deficits of at least $125M for the districts’ next fiscal year, 2022-23.

Why is this important now?

At the October 5, 2021, SFUSD Board of Education Committee of the Whole meeting, the Board was informed that the California Department of Education (CDE) formally notified SFUSD of a determination that the District “may be unable to meet its financial obligations” for each of the next two fiscal years and determined that the district is "no longer a going concern." This determination raised the stakes and created a required timeline for the Board of Education to approve a balancing plan to cut around 13% of the district's budget to close the large projected deficit. The California Department of Education is now requiring SFUSD to submit a balancing plan by 12/15/21.

The school district will receive professional assistance from an independent state agency called the Fiscal Assistance Management and Crisis Team (FCMAT) and plans to use a system called Zero-Based Budgeting (ZBB) to re-prioritize spending based on what is currently most important to support students. The ZBB process will effectively build the budget from the ground up based on these priorities, rather than starting from historical spending patterns and making cuts.

What role do families have in this?

Making decisions about what should be funded and what must be cut is never easy. It is an opportunity however to invest time and attention to identifying what is really important and to focus resources and possibly even increase the effectiveness of the things that matter most to our students. Families know what their students need to be successful, and we encourage you to engage in opportunities to learn more about the budget and share your thoughts and perspectives.

You will have these opportunities at your school, as part of the yearly planning process overseen by each site’s principal and School Site Council, and at the district level, at Board of Education meetings, and likely at budget-specific stakeholder input sessions and/or town halls.

The initial proposal for the Board of Education to consider will be shared at the November 2, 2021 Committee of the Whole meeting. This meeting will be open to the public and there will be an opportunity to share feedback during the “public comment” period. Meetings can be accessed by Zoom or telephone.

Questions?

What questions do you have about this process or more generally about SFUSD’s budget? Use this form to share your questions. We may not have all the answers but will try to get more information to address any areas of confusion or concern and share back what we learn!