Davis struggles with cuts to school budgets

PHOTO: College and career specialist Julie Clayton is retiring this year, the district will not re-open her position afterward. It will be
eliminated.

By Harald Tollerup

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

Many Davis teachers and staff are at risk of being released for the upcoming 2024-25 school year. 

The state of California has suffered a budget shortfall since the 2022-23 fiscal year. California’s Legislative Analyst’s office (LAO) has estimated the shortfall to be upwards of $73 billion. Based on this prediction the state is forced to cut back the services it provides, including education.

The original cut for school and community colleges is estimated to be about $14.3 billion, according to EdSource. However, Governor Gavin Newsom’s current proposal suggests an $8 billion cut in order to balance the budget. 

To make up the shortfall Newsom plans to reach into savings accounts and other rainy day funds are being spent, according to the LAO.

“School finance … is a game of ‘we think you are going to have this much money’ and you now have to base your decisions on how much money we think you are going to get,” said Elizabeth Moon, President of the Davis Joint Unified Board of Education.

DJUSD’s budget must be solidified before the true numbers will be available in Newsom’s May revision, due to an earlier deadline for school districts. 

With a state deficit looming, the district needs to adjust. Its budget models estimate funding for the school year. They are based on California’s, which have significantly overestimated their income. Additionally, issues with attendance have plagued schools throughout DJUSD and have caused estimates at the beginning of the year to be inaccurate.

“(The budget) is all driven by (LAO’s) analysis of what money is going to be available to hit all the different things that the state is agreeing to spend money on,” Moon said.

The district estimates it will be short about $6.5 million over the next two years. 

There are three main reasons why positions may be cut throughout DJUSD: the reallocation of funds, one time money running out and deficits.

During and after the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency relief funds were issued to schools to maintain their operations. Many of these packages were one time deals due to expire after a certain amount of time. With this new money, the district expanded services but now those accounts are running dry. This is also a state-wide issue as California schools received approximately $23 billion in COVID relief funds, according to Cal Matters.

The positions funded by this one-time money are called “soft funded” positions, that are now vulnerable. 

Additionally, sometimes money needs to be reallocated. For example, the leasing for theChromebook carts are being moved from the general fund to a facility fund. Many accounts can only be used for certain purposes; the facility funds can only pay for maintenance and construction, for example.

A decline in attendance is also having an impact.

“We (DJUSD) have gone from 95% attendance pre-pandemic to 92% post-pandemic,”Moon said. According to Moon, a 1% deduction in attendance equates to about $1 million dollars less for DJUSD. 

When May rolls around, when district and state projections are fully realized, the district will know more about what is going to be cut. As of now, the DJUSD School Board has passed three resolutions outlining what positions can be cut when the time comes.

If positions are left vacant, class sizes will need to be readjusted: a class that was once 28 students could increase to more than 32 students.

“It’s important to find a balance between finding all the excellent programs we have …making sure we pay our employees so we can retain and attract them … and making sure we stay fiscally solvent. Making sure we don’t spend more money than we have,” Moon said.

Many times positions will be bumped from one school site to another. That means that a teacher at Holmes, for example, with the right credentials could move into a position at DavisHigh. But the fact still remains that there will be one more empty position somewhere in the district.  

A service that the district, at this point, has no plan for restoring for next year is the College And Career Specialist at DHS. Julie Clayton,the specialist who is running the program, serves students looking to apply for scholarships, jobs and college. Due to her retirement and a limited budget, the position will not be filled next year. Even she is not aware of what will happen to the college and career center next year.

“I have used the college and career center to get my work permit and to look at college resources. Everybody there was super helpful and it’s a really easy and useful place to get information,” junior Slade Jacobs said. “They have a ton of pamphlets and flyers about college stuff and just going in there and browsing helped me a ton.”

Moreover, DJUSD is considering releasing an English learner coach. The English Learner Department (ELD) at DHS has already struggled this year, with a permanent teacher only being hired last month.