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Budget Reports
We Need Your Help With the Budget!
03/26/08 2nd Interim
Fiscal Recovery Plan
12/05/07 1st Interim - PowerPoint Presentation
Budget News Update - 10/18/07
10/17/07 Board Budget Workshop
Budget News Update - 08/24/07
| | - Call the CUSD Budget Tip Line @ 891-3000, ext 200. This is a confidential budget hotline and you can be anonymous or tell us your name, if you want.
- Email our Assistant Superintendent of Business, Jan Combes at email. She is gathering ideas and suggestions.
- A reduction in our utility bills will assist in reducing our budget deficit. We would like to remind employees to close windows and doors when the A/C is running and to remove any unnecessary energy-using devices in your classroom/office to save electricity.
Thank you for your help and solutions.
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| | If you have suggestions, we would like to hear from you. We welcome short term, one-time fixes but are really looking for long-term systemic changes that can help "right the budget" for the long haul. We will keep your suggestions anonymous and confidential, and we will honor all negotiated agreement with employees.
There are several ways to provide input. Email or call one of the following cabinet members who are participating on a budget advisory team:
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| | For a number of reasons including declining enrollment, increases in employee costs and incorrect income projections, Chico Unified School District has a $400,000 deficit this school year. Not correcting the problem now will mean we will be $2.5 million in the red next year. If we can't find solutions, the State of California will appoint people to come into our district, cut programs and staff, and bring our budget into balance. The bottom line is that we are spending more than we are making each year.
Just as overspending doesn't work in your own household budgets, it's unacceptable for our district. We need to make some changes, and do it quickly. We have in place a budget committee that is coming up with suggestions to correct this problem. We are considering ways that we could become much more efficient in terms of staffing while still honoring contracts with our employee groups. It is possible that some shifting in classroom assignments for the 2007-08 school year will be taking place.
If you have ideas we could use, please email them to jcombes@chicousd.org or you may use our confidential budget tipline at 891-3000 ext 200. This problem affects all students, parents, and staff in our school community. Please help be part of the solution.
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| | August 24, 2007
JOINT PRESS RELEASE
BUTTE COUNTY OFFICE OF EDUCATION
AND CHICO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
On July 30 the District received a letter from Randy Meeker, Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services for Butte County Office of Education. The letter provided the district with a "conditional approval" of the district's 2007-08 Adopted Budget. Today the administrative team of the Chico Unified School District met with representatives from the Butte County Office of Education.
The county expressed concern that the district had been spending beyond its means for several years and was subsequently $1.1 million dollars below the required reserve level. In addition multi-year budget projections showed a worsening situation with reserves fully depleted by the end of 2008-09 if reductions were not made.
All California school districts are required to maintain an adequate reserve level to ensure long term fiscal solvency. With an enrollment of just under 13,000, the CUSD is considered a medium size school district and is required to maintain a 3% reserve. The annual operating budget is $105.6 million requiring reserves of $3.2 million. The adopted budget was only able to identify $2.1 million in reserves.
Several positive changes have been identified while the district has been in the process of closing the books for the 2006-07 fiscal year. About $700,000 of improvements to the budget have been found, $517,000 of which is attributable to the food services department. While the food services department had been budgeted to deficit spend in 2006-07, income was up and expenses were down. Credit for these changes must go to the nutrition services department employees who implemented systemic changes in food service production and processes over the last two years.
However, the projected ending balance for the current school year remains about $400,000 short while the 2008-09 school year continues to project a $2 million dollar deficit. As part of the approval process the county is requiring the district to identify the needed adjustments to bring the budget in balance by December 2007.
Chico Unified School District is scheduling a board workshop to discuss the 2007-08 budget changes in October. In the meantime a team of district leaders from all educational and operational departments are meeting weekly to identify needed adjustments. They are also seeking input from employee groups and community leaders. The team's recommendations for changes to the budget will be proposed at the CUSD board workshop in October.
The district encourages anyone with questions about the Chico Unified School District budget to contact Jan Combes, Assistant Superintendent at jcombes@mail.chicousd.org.
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