San Luis Obispo County Grand Jury
• 2011-2012
Are Paso Robles School Budgetary Woes a Lesson for Other Districts?
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 11 findings
F1
A primary responsibility of a governing board is financial oversight and accountability.
No recommendations for this finding
F2
Governing board members overseeing the county’s ten districts, similar to governing board members statewide, are offered education and training in school district budgeting and financial oversight, but seldom take maximum advantage of the workshops offered.
Related Recommendations (2)
R1
The SLO County Office of Education should develop a minimum two-day mandatory education program for new governing board members with a concentration on budgeting and financial oversight, supplemented by an annual continuing training program.
R2
Each governing board in the county should establish a policy requiring new board members to attend a minimum of two days of education on school district budgeting and financial oversight. Each governing board should also require follow-up financial training for board members annually.
F3
All ten school districts in San Luis Obispo County are currently in deficit spending.
Related Recommendations (3)
R3
The administration and Governing Board of Paso Robles Joint Unified School District should take additional budget cutting steps beyond the 12 annual furlough days scheduled for the next year, in order to be assured of achieving the County Office of Education Superintendent’s recommended reserve at the end of the 2013-2014 fiscal year. 22
R4
The administration and Governing Boards of Paso Robles, Atascadero, San Miguel and Shandon school districts should establish budget reductions in the coming year that will assure meeting the state’s recommended reserve for districts of their size - 2014
R5
The Governing Boards of Atascadero, Lucia Mar, Paso Robles, San Miguel, and Shandon school districts should seriously consider a parcel tax as a revenue source and educate the public about its importance and viability.
F4
In January 2012, the County Superintendent of Schools agreed with the decision of the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District management to declare negative status.
No recommendations for this finding
F5
The Paso Robles Joint Unified School District and its unions agreed to take six staff furlough days in May of this year, in order to reduce expenditures sufficiently to end the fiscal year with positive reserves.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
The administration and Governing Board of Paso Robles Joint Unified School District should take additional budget cutting steps beyond the 12 annual furlough days scheduled for the next year, in order to be assured of achieving the County Office of Education Superintendent’s recommended reserve at the end of the 2013-2014 fiscal year. 22
F6
The County Superintendent has issued “qualified” warnings to four other school districts, Atascadero, Lucia Mar Unified, San Miguel Joint Unified, and Shandon Joint Unified, and suggested that they make new budget cuts to remain solvent over the next two years.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
The administration and Governing Boards of Paso Robles, Atascadero, San Miguel and Shandon school districts should establish budget reductions in the coming year that will assure meeting the state’s recommended reserve for districts of their size - 2014
F7
Two districts, Templeton and Pleasant Valley, rely on Revenue Limit funding from the state, have maintained substantial reserves and are expected to weather the current state budget crisis with minimal disruption of their education programs. 21
No recommendations for this finding
F8
Three Basic Aid districts, Cayucos, San Luis Coastal and Coast Unified, which receive revenue from local property taxes and have maintained substantial reserves, are expected to weather the current state budget crisis with minimal disruption of their education programs.
No recommendations for this finding
F9
The County Superintendent of Schools has advised the county school districts to prepare budgets that assume the proposed ballot initiatives to raise state income taxes and sales taxes in order to increase funding for public education statewide will not pass.
No recommendations for this finding
F10
During the current school year, State Lottery proceeds will provide about $4.8 million to the ten school districts in San Luis Obispo County, 17 % less than the previous year and only 1.8% of the total $267 million in annual revenues the ten school districts will receive this year.
No recommendations for this finding
F11
A parcel tax is a viable revenue source for school districts; however, the two-thirds voter approval requirement is a substantial challenge.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
The Governing Boards of Atascadero, Lucia Mar, Paso Robles, San Miguel, and Shandon school districts should seriously consider a parcel tax as a revenue source and educate the public about its importance and viability.
Conclusions 1
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CL1The public schools in San Luis Obispo County are confronting an era of declining resources and student enrollment, and federally-mandated spending on special education, to which they have not fully adapted. All school districts in the County, even those with strong property tax revenues, are currently running annual deficits - their total annual expenditures exceed their total annual revenues. Despite laying off staff, consolidating administrative positions and reducing the total number of positions, the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District found itself near insolvency earlier this school year. The Governing Board had not adopted sufficient measures to deal with the District’s deteriorating financial position. As a result, the District would not meet its state- required financial reserve. Absent state assistance in addressing the situation, local governing boards must find local solutions, which means addressing both revenues and expenditures. In order to determine local solutions, however, local governing boards must educate themselves about school finance rather than relying almost solely on the expertise of administrative staff. Both the County Superintendent and state organizations offer budget and finance workshops to governing board members. The immediate task is to break the current cycle of deficit spending. If this cycle is not broken, each district could eventually find itself in a situation similar to Paso Robles. Simultaneously, local districts must develop new financial resources for the long term, in order to maintain the viability of public primary and secondary education in the County. 20 If local governing boards and administrators do not take the actions needed to stop the downward spiral and restore financial health, the state will take over the districts and local control will be lost.
No Responses Found 10
Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.
Atascadero Unified School District
School District
Cayucos Elementary School District
School District
Coast Unified School District
School District
Lucia Mar Unified School District
School District
Paso Robles Joint Unified School District
School District
Pleasant Valley Joint Union Elementary
School District
San Luis Coastal Unified School District
School District
San Miguel Joint Union Elementary School District
School District
Shandon Joint Unified School District
School District
Templeton Unified School District
School District