The Sacramento Unified School Board voted to appeal the county’s rejection of its plan to address financial challenges and avoid a state takeover
The Sacramento Unified School District Board approved a resolution to appeal the county’s rejection of its plan to avoid a state takeover during a special meeting Tuesday.
The school board held the special meeting to discuss the appeal to the state superintendent of schools after thecounty office of education rejected the district’s solvency plan last week.
The only action item on the agenda was a resolution to authorize an appeal to the state superintendent of public instruction regarding the Sacramento County Office of Education’s July 31 rescission of board action.
During a special meeting last week, SCUSD’s school board unanimously approved a $158 million solvency plan that includes a hiring freeze and proposed cuts. The board also approved a new contract with the Sacramento City Teachers Association, effective through June 2030. The board estimates that the contract will unlock $97 million by using funds from the retiree health benefit fund, Medi-Cal reimbursements, and money allocated for unfilled staff vacancies.
However, the next day, the county office of education’s financial advisor rejected the plan.
County officials said the decision to rescind the district’s agreement is based on three factors:
- The plan would redirect assets from one account to another
- Using assets from the trust fund will cost more over time
- The agreement would restrict the district’s flexibility in the long-term
“It is very frustrating. These experts have been here helping our district for about eight months, and they have not come up with real solutions and they have not made good proposals and they have not given clear information about where our district really stands financially. And they really seem, for some unknown reason, motivated to see our district fail. And we will not let that happen,” SCTA president Nikki Davis-Milevsky said.
“Many of the funds that they were proposing to put forward to solve the deficit were not new moneys. They were borrowed,” Dave Gordon, the county superintendent of schools, said. “They were moneys borrowed from existing funding sources which were meant to fund other things such as the retiree health benefits that they offer. All of those things were not new money. They would have to be repaid, not just in their base amounts, but in the lost interest.”
District leaders are working to find a solution to avoid state receivership and maintain local control.
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