District Budget Process:

As Paul Goldfinger of School Services of California says, "There are always two things to be accomplished in California school finance:  make the most of the current year's opportunities and plan for the future." 

So how does the district go about accomplishing this task?  Budget development in the school district begins with the release of the Governor's Proposed Budget in January.  This information allows us to develop Budget Assumptions that we use to guide our thinking. We project our Average Daily Attendance for the current year, which is the basis for next year’s funding, and project the current year’s ending balance, which will be carried over to the following year. At the same time, we project next year’s enrollment, and determine staffing needs for that number of students.

Throughout the spring, the Board meets at regularly scheduled Board Meetings and in special Budget Workshops to determine funding priorities with the resources available. Budget refinement continues as more information becomes known.

We must have a Board Adopted Budget approved by the County Office of Education by the end of the fiscal year, June 30. The Board must certify that given the adopted budget, the district will be fiscally sound for at least three years.

Although the State is expected to adopt a budget prior to the end of the fiscal year, in fact it usually does not. Therefore, within 45 days of the State’s adoption of its budget, each district is required to realign their budget to reflect the final State Adopted Budget.