UPDATES!!

Budget Update - 5/22/2020

General Info

In January, the Governor proposed increasing the Prop 98 (money that goes to education) by $1.2 billion with a COLA of 2.31%.  In the May revise (May 14, 2020), the Governor had to adjust due to shortfalls caused by COVID-19. There is a projected budget shortfall of $54.3 billion over 3 years. That leads to a potential cut to school funding of $6.5 billion, instead of a $1.2 billion increase. That includes all county offices as well. 

What does that mean for KHSD? 

This means the district could see a 10% cut to its budget. The Governor added the COLA (2.31%) to the base grant for the LCFF before the 10% cut, which makes the effective cut 7.92%. To put this in context, the 2nd year of the recession had its biggest cut and it was roughly 8%. This is based on NO additional Federal Funds coming into the State. (If the Heroes Act money- which was passed by the House and is on hold in the Senate-does pass, it could mitigate much of the remainder of the cuts). The state will also be using deferrals, which are not cuts, but delayed payments that can sometimes cause cash flow problems in some districts.

The Governor’s Prop 98 Rainy Day Fund will be completely depleted in the budget and is figured into the 10% cut. The Governor is proposing some relief to districts by reducing the employer’s contribution to STRS from 19.1% to 16.15% for 2020-21 and then down to 16.02% in 2021-22. If passed, this would be a savings from what districts had already budgeted, allowing that money to be used elsewhere. 

There are some categorical programs that will be significantly impacted as well. Categorical programs are those that have specific funding allocated for use solely in those programs. The ones that impact KHSD directly are cuts to the CTE Incentive Grant and to the Adult Education Block Grant. 

All districts were told by the county office to revise their budgets to reflect a 10% cut. This means that the district will be taking measures that will impact us. There is a possibility that some positions might be eliminated, causing involuntary transfers and/or late reassignments. A worst case scenario would be a Reduction in Force (RIF). This is very rare, but not impossible. 

We also want to remind you that our funding comes per student. When students attend charter schools, that funding goes with the student. Please do not encourage students to attend charters to get their summer school credits. They can do concurrent enrollment through BC and it doesn’t impact KHSD’s budget. With the drastic cuts that the district is facing, any money leaving the district impacts all of us. 

We are attaching several flyers for your information. The first is what to do if there are layoffs (RIFs). It is imperative that you follow the guidelines because there are timelines that cannot be waived. Bruce Saathoff is our CTA contact. The second is a call to action to get federal funding to help with educational funding for the states. Any calls or contact will be helpful. 

We will do our best to keep you informed as decisions are made.

KHSTA Exec Board