Chico Unified officials say more than $80 million in taxpayer-approved funds is getting used to address long-known problems at aging schools.
The district is updating or rebuilding most elementary schools, two middle schools and, eventually, both high schools.
Several elementary schools are getting new transitional kindergarten classrooms to prepare for the launch of a new state-mandated TK program for 4-year-olds at the start of the new school year Aug. 19. Those schools are Little Chico Creek, Marigold and Emma Wilson elementaries, and the funding comes from the Measure K bond issue.
“It’s [the TK program] been a challenge for the whole state to implement, but we’re lucky because we have bond dollars,” said Julie Kistle, director of facilities and construction.read more
Editor’s note: Gayle Olsen and Teisha Hase joined the Chico Unified School District (CUSD) board this month after winning seats in the Nov. 5 General Election. Read our Q-and-A with Olsen here and our Q-and-A with Hase below. Read our sidebar on policy under the Trump Administration here.
Longtime English and reading educator Teisha Hase is taking her dedication to students to the next level as she assumes her seat on the CUSD board representing Trustee Area 3.
Hase told ChicoSol she’s excited to take on this new journey after 27 years working at Chico and Oroville high schools and tutoring students needing alternative support. Hase, who considers herself a student advocate, has also served as president of the Oroville Secondary Teachers Association (OSTA).
On the campaign trail, she told North State Public Radio about her concern for upholding legal protections for children seeking counseling, including for LBGTQ children, following a lawsuit from a local parent who challenged privacy statues.
Hase won nearly 3,000 more votes than her opponent Michele Cooper as of Nov. 14., according to the Butte County Clerk Recorder’s office. She will represent Area 3 that is comprised of central Chico north of Enloe Medical Center. Hase joined ChicoSol News late last year for an exclusive interview.
Why do you think this experience helped set you apart from your opponents and can inform your goals in this term?
My opponent, in a sort of [posted] concession speech, made the comment that she hopes that under Trump, the Department of Education is dismantled. I find that so disheartening. That 8% [of federal] funding for Chico Unified, if it went away this year, would mean about $16 million lost from the budget.
You don’t lose that and not have it be a hardship for students in programs … Title 1 for disadvantaged students, Title III for English-language learners, [Title] VI for our Native and Islander students, and [Title] IV ensures gender parity. What that’s saying is, these very vulnerable populations are not important to protect. And I vehemently disagree with that.
I taught reading at the high school level, and that was a federally funded class. My entire experience would have been impacted were it not possible to teach students who really needed the extra help. I’ve also had to be very aware [at OSTA] of the contract between the teachers’ association and the district. The school board members, while they’re not really involved in negotiating contracts, should be aware of what the contracts are.
Public schools face a myriad of challenges today — from budget crises and possible closures to fights over equity and how our most vulnerable students are serviced. Which issues are your top priority at this time and how would you bring them to the board for discussion as is appropriate?
I think there needs to be a focus on mental health in our schools. I was a volunteer for the National Alliance on Mental Illness for five years as a facilitator, and I just think there’s so much more we can do to educate educators and our students about mental health. To end stigma, there can’t be shame associated with any mental health issues.
I was also a foster parent for six years, and there’s a stigma associated with foster children, too. It didn’t occur to me that students felt that foster kids were “bad kids” … and so helping these really vulnerable populations are my focuses.
You’ve mentioned your stance on the so-called “parental choice” issue, which was a major focus of some board meetings two years ago. Do you consider this election a referendum on the matter, especially given that a parent’s lawsuit has been rebuffed by a federal judge?read more
Chico Unified School District sued by conservative group
by Natalie Hanson | Posted January 20, 2023
photo courtesy of EMS
Michaele Turnage Young
Civil rights advocates say that battles over student rights have become polarized by far-right “special interests,” and they foresee a fight ahead to protect childrens’ rights.
Those fights may involve issues ranging from protection against discrimination to materials students are allowed to access and read. And at a Jan. 18 Board of Trustees meeting for Chico Unified School District (CUSD), officials responded to concerns raised by a lawsuit filed by an organization that supports many of the political right’s causes with court fights.
At a Jan. 18 news briefing sponsored by Ethnic Media Services (EMS), experts said the battle over students’ rights starts in K-12 schools, including whether children can be protected from discriminatory bullying.
AJ Link, policy analyst for the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, said his organization is pressing for legislation to end corporal punishment in schools.
“Any time we are physically restraining a child is wrong,” Link said. “I hope we start viewing children as children again, instead of threats to be afraid of.”
Liz King, senior program director at the The Leadership Conference Education Fund, said school resource officers that are provided by local law enforcement agencies can “traumatize” children when used to restrain them. This is more likely to happen to Black children and children with disabilities.
“We know there are too many examples of too many children behaving the way children do and feeling big feelings the way children do … and find themselves gripped against the wall or with a big adult sitting on them,” King said. “We are asking for the federal government to intervene and say, this is the wrong way to treat any child.”
Since 2021, 42 states have proposed or passed policies endorsing classroom censorship. Morgan Craven, a national policy director at the Intercultural Development Research Association, said battles over critical race theory, which isn’t taught in K-12 schools, was always about control “over our collective history and narratives over how we talk about discrimination, bias and race itself.”
Craven said the association expects the Republican-led House of Representatives to hold hearings targeting promotion of diversity and inclusion in schools. Teachers are already reporting confusion over what they can teach, or how to handle discrimination. This prevents schools from becoming “culturally sustaining schools,” which Craven defines as “places where every student feels welcome and no one is asked to check parts of their identity at the door.”
Multiple lawsuits have been filed against school districts which work to create so-called safe spaces.
The Center for American Liberty has filed several lawsuits involving the gender transitioning of children, including two against California school districts. One of those lawsuits is Regino v. Staley, filed Jan. 6 against Chico Unified School District, which it claims coaxed a child into a transition. The Center attempted to find school closures during the pandemic unconstitutional in its Brach v. Newsom lawsuit.
(CUSD Superintendent Kelly Staley, in response to the lawsuit claim that the district acted without consulting the parents, said: “Whenever possible and as permitted by law we seek to ensure that the student has full support of their family,” according to a report by Action News Now.)
At the EMS briefing, King didn’t comment directly on the lawsuit. But she said this: “The attacks on the rights of transgender children and their families, including criminalizing the affirming healthcare that parents seek for their children, make schools and communities less safe for all children. We are committed to ensuring that schools are welcoming to all children and their families.”
Higher education
The Supreme Court will also consider if public colleges like Harvard, which use federal funds, can consider the race of students applying for admission.
Michaele Turnage Young, senior counsel at the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund, said the Court will weigh the affirmative action precedent set in 1978.
“Outlawing race-conscious admissions could lead to a scenario that divides applicants into two categories -– those whose most salient experiences are inextricably intertwined with race and everyone else. Applicants for whom race is salient will be disadvantaged under such a regime,” Turnage Young said.
“My hope is the Supreme Court will show up for equal opportunity and the constitution,” King said. “I hope … we will see every child and family has the opportunity to be treated with respect and dignity, as we recognize and understand that a diverse education benefits all children.”
Craven spoke in a more general sense.
“I hope we can stop (the) inappropriate politicization of education, because it’s interfering with the safe, supportive learning environments that we want,” Craven said.
A Rosedale parent protests outside a Board of Trustees meeting earlier this year.
A crucial school board election is drawing unusual public interest in Chico, with pressure high on administrators and elected officials to address performance gaps, school safety and politically-driven battles over educational materials.
Voters will fill three seats on the Chico Unified School District (CUSD) Board of Education on Nov. 8. Board members have faced unprecedented demands during the pandemic, as the majority chose to follow the state’s guidance -– despite outcry from some parents and an unsuccessful recall attempt. In addition, the suspension of a Rosedale Elementary School vice principal and equity leader sparked scrutiny of the district’s equity practices.
“The outcome of the race could represent a change in the whole dynamic of teaching and learning in Chico,” said Laurel Avalon, a retired paralegal who helped form the group Chico Peace Alliance after the Uvalde, Texas, school massacre.
The Chico Unified Teachers Association has endorsed candidates Scott Thompson in District 1, incumbent Tom Lando in District 4 and incumbent Eileen Robinson in District 5. A map of all trustee district areas is available online.
Their opponents are supported by Chico Parents for In-Person Learning -– a community group that unsuccessfully attempted to recall nearly every board member last year. The group, organized in 2020 to oppose mask mandates and other Covid precautionary measures, supports incumbent trustee and group co-founder Matt Tennis, as well as newcomer-candidates Logan Wilson and Rebecca Konkin.
With Chico schools back to in-person education for more than one school year, Chico Parents for In-Person Learning has turned its focus to other issues. The group’s public Facebook page shares content about hot-button issues, like efforts nationwide to oppose the supposed teaching of critical race theory in public schools and about what the Tennis campaign calls the “newfangled cult of mediocrity” that it blames on the “constant pressure to eliminate ‘equity gaps.’”
(Critical race theory isn’t taught in CUSD schools.)
Tennis, Konkin and Wilson all have endorsements from Chico Police Officers Association, the local police union. Last week, Chico Parents for In-Person Learning announced that Tennis had also been endorsed by Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea.
Cal Matters reported last month on the statewide GOP effort to win local school board seats with its “Parent Revolt” training and recruitment program for conservative candidates.
Chico Parents for In-Person Learning posted a link to the article, but didn’t respond to ChicoSol’s request for comment for this story.
Avalon says the education sub-group in Chico Peace Alliance is concerned about the implications of the school board election given the larger state and nationwide political efforts to shift power on boards. She said Californians need to understand that efforts like the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida could be attempted in their state.
Avalon said Chico Parents for In-Person Learning’s shift in focus clearly represents an attempt to oppose and weaken the teacher’s union. She said Tennis helped drive the attempted recall against his school board colleagues and spread messages that “frightened people about school control.”
“They’re cultural scare tactics, and it doesn’t do our kids any good to take that route, to start these culture wars in the name of parental involvement and parental control over education,” Avalon said.
Konkin, one of the candidates supported by Chico Parents for In-Person Learning, said she thinks the election has generated interest because parents want more representation in decisions around public education.
Konkin said parents should have more influence on how some subjects are taught. “I would like to see parents have some input into what the teachers are teaching in regards to sensitive subjects, for example sex education,” she said.
At present, Chico Unified gives parents discretion to decide whether their children take certain classes on subjects like health and sexuality.
“We recognize now, more than ever, that we are vital partners in the community and desire to partner with school educators to achieve our common goal to see our students succeed,” Konkin said.
District 5: Robinson vs. Wilson
Robinson, a longtime Chico resident and seasoned educator and board veteran since 2010, is running for re-election for the third time. Her top priorities are investing in programs that improve academic abilities and close learning gaps and in social and emotional support resources. She is also concerned with how the district will raise money to continue the facilities master plan update that calls for refurbishing seven campuses.
Robinson addressed attacks on the board for its approach to the COVID-19 pandemic. She said the board always follows state health department guidelines; in any case, now all classes are in person and students can choose whether to wear masks. “I don’t want another year and a half of political divisiveness taking away energy from what we need to be focused on,” she said.
Robinson has won the endorsement of retired CUSD continuing education administrator Bernie Vigallon, who said he appreciated her “dedication to CUSD teachers/staff, students and the community in general.”
Wilson, a businessman who is also running for the seat, said he wants to “bring sensibility back to the school board and to be a voice for parents who want a say in the education of their children.” His priorities are improving campus security and giving parents more control over childrens’ education.
“I’m a big advocate of having student resource officers on campus and increasing exposure, making sure kids of elementary age feel comfortable around a police officer,” Wilson said.
Wilson is also endorsed by the Peace Officers Research Association. A Camp Fire survivor, he has lived in Butte County for about six years and owns the agriculture and real estate commodities company The Stogan Group. He’s chief financial officer for Gran Mutual Water Company, and has been volunteering at Chico Unified and coaching for CARD and Little League.
“If we’re all doing this because we’re invested in our kids, in the future of Chico and in our teachers, that’s the answer to every problem,” Wilson said.
District 4: Lando vs. Tennis
Lando, running for re-election, grew up in Chico and works as an academic intervention administrator for an online charter school. He is concerned about hiring enough teachers for special education, and says the district expects lower future enrollment numbers due to large outgoing classes and smaller incoming classes. (See sidebar on enrollment trends here.)
He’s also focused on raising funds to keep up programs boosted by COVID federal and state relief and convincing voters to support a bond measure to refurbish campuses in need of repairs -– especially on buildings that are falling out of usability due to age and maintenance issues. That’s why rebuilding support for teachers and Chico Unified is a priority, he said.
“When teachers feel attacked or not supported by the community, it makes their jobs even harder,” Lando said. “We can disagree as long as we all have the best interests of the kids at heart. Unfortunately, there are definitely people who see the school board as a political stepping stone and a place to score points, rather than keeping that goal firmly in line.”
Lando’s opponent Tennis did not respond to requests for an interview. Tennis also serves on the Butte County Water Commission. He has repeatedly claimed on Facebook, in board meetings and in a previous ChicoSol interview that COVID-19 was not a good excuse to keep students off campuses, and has stood apart from fellow board members on other issues, too.
Lando pointed out that Tennis refused to vote in favor of the the state-funded LCAP plan for improving academic outcomes because the trustee disagreed with use of the word “equity” in the plan to recommend how funds are spent.
District 1: Konkin vs. Thompson
Because of the redistricting process that changed the configuration of trustee seats, District 1 will have two new candidates vying for the seat.
Konkin, a Chico resident for about 14 years, works as a part-time pediatric nurse practitioner and coaches cross country and softball. She said she decided to run because she opposed school closures during COVID.
Konkin said she wants to increase campus safety by implementing a disciplinary plan based on specific infractions, while supporting at-risk students “to address underlying causes for why school violence might occur.” She is also concerned about learning loss, saying, “I don’t support eliminating grades or standards as I believe it lowers our expectations.”
Thompson is a native Chicoan and works as manager of facilities for the county’s Department of Employment and Social Services. He said he was inspired to run for the board after parenting his children through the district for decades, watching their struggles and learning about parenting children with autism. He said he’s also running to support public education in general.
“I see that public education is under attack in this country,” Thompson said. “There are concerted efforts in every state, in a majority of school districts, to stack education boards with people who do not have every single child’s interest at heart.”
Thompson also wants to offer his experience in security to improve response to emergencies. “It only takes one small hole in our defenses to allow a dangerous situation to occur, and I intend to look at school security very closely.”
Learning loss
All of the candidates who were interviewed said they want to make sure students can catch up to state and federal standards, given the well-documented drop in key skills -– particularly math scores -– identified in the recent school year.
Lando said the school board is studying methods to improve math scores with intervention systems to ensure students can catch up. He said he wants to boost teacher partnerships, a teaming-up to identify students with different needs.
Konkin said she wants to increase tutoring with assessment systems to monitor academic loss among students who are struggling.
Thompson said he wants to ensure students from all backgrounds have equal opportunity to achieve their goals, particularly supporting those who need “additional services.” He also suggested tools like “high-dosage” tutoring sessions offered several times a week.
“Equity in education is the only way that we will be able to serve disadvantaged students, and we need to focus necessary resources to those who need them most in order to produce the most successful education experience,” he said.
Book banning and equity
Nationwide, political pressure has grown on schools to pull material on everything from the Civil War to multicultural events, producing a cultural battlefield. Board members have told ChicoSol they know there is pressure locally, as well.
Thompson said he is worried about efforts in 26 states to ban more than 1,000 books, limit access to mental health support and other assistance and regulate or refuse to recognize LBGTQ students. He said he wants to support teaching all aspects of history including “how marginalized people have been treated in this country and around the world.”
“History is history, it happened, and it needs to be accurately documented and taught in order for our children to avoid making the same mistakes,” he said. “Glossing over things that make us feel uncomfortable is not doing our children any kind of service.”
Robinson said she thinks terms like equity have been “weaponized.” She said parents need to understand teachers can pick their course materials as long as they meet curriculum standards approved by the district and state. But the district also vetoes some things, like a poster in a high school classroom that she said administrators removed because it was “too political” by referencing supporting transgender students.
“In my opinion, equity means taking away the barriers that exist for students’ path forward,” she said. “Education is not political.”
Konkin said she wants to see schools creating awareness of neurodiversity among children and doesn’t think new materials on diversity and cultural awareness need to be added right now.
Wilson thinks the district should focus on children’s learning and improving student scores, rather than on prioritizing new state curriculum on cultural awareness. “My priority would be to focus on learning loss and recovery,” he said.
Lando said he is concerned about the politicization of school board elections, pointing to nationwide efforts to fund Republican candidates.
“The party is pouring a lot of money into traditionally non-partisan races as a way to groom future leaders and tilt the future discussions,” he said. “It’s disturbing to think that anybody would use schools and students as pawns.”
Avalon, too, said she’s alarmed to hear some candidates focus so heavily on “parental control” and repeat “culture war” messaging Republican candidates have used to get elected in other states.
“Parents have always had the option to opt out of sex education and particular curriculum; it’s not like they haven’t been able to control these parts of their kids’ school experience,” she said.
Natalie Hanson is a contributing writer to ChicoSol.
Despite a turbulent period since the Camp Fire, further complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Chico Unified School District (CUSD) administrators say so far this fall, enrollment is rising and teacher staffing levels are recovering. That has given some running for the school board hope to be able to tackle multiple high-pressure concerns.
Jim Hanlon, human resources assistant superintendent, told ChicoSol last month that the district was facing some staffing issues. However, as the school year began he said in an interview that although enrollment dropped from 12,253 students in 2019 to 11,834 in 2021 -– its lowest point in five years -– it has increased to 12,176 this year.
Hanlon noted attendance fluctuates as families move in and out during the summer, and could be affected by the growth of Oak Bridge Academy Online School during COVID from 75 to 300 students.
Teacher staffing has also improved since the pandemic’s peak, with full time teachers “holding fairly steady” from kindergarten through 8th grade, Hanlon said. He said they hired 30 high school teachers and lowered the need for substitute teachers this year, after a high need during COVID’s peak.
“We did temporarily increase substitute pay about two years ago because of the sub shortage due to COVID, and the board just voted last month to make the pay increase permanent,” he said. Short-term subs (who work 1-10 consecutive days) get $175 per day and long-term subs (working 11 or more consecutive days in a classroom) get $200 per day.
However, the district remains low on entry-level positions, from bus drivers to classroom aides, which may complicate strategies to improve students’ educational scores and campus facilities and safety. Wages for these positions have been increased to try to attract more workers, but the data still shows an increase in retirements and resignations during the first year of the pandemic.
And Tom Lando, one of the incumbents on the school board running for re-election, said in fact the district expects lower future enrollment numbers to come out within the next year -– due to large outgoing classes and smaller incoming classes. Only time will tell how major that gap in incoming classes will be, and what effect it could have on the school district as a whole, he said.
Read about the Nov. 8 CUSD board election here.
Natalie Hanson is a contributing writer to ChicoSol.
Inflation will raise District costs, but state funding may reach a high
by Natalie Hanson | Posted August 2, 2022
This CUSD general fund graph compares projected cash flow for the coming academic year (red-dotted line) with the two previous years.
Chico Unified School District is struggling to solve the staffing and fatigue problems plaguing schools across the nation — even with its coffers well-funded for the coming academic year.
Chico Unified Teachers Association President Kevin Moretti said teachers have been aided by smaller class sizes, block schedules at the high schools and more aides “when we can find them.”
However, new funding may not necessarily solve all staffing problems. Like many school districts across the country, Chico Unified has seen an increase in retirements and resignations during the pandemic. The district has raised the wages for lower-paid positions that are at a premium, like classroom aides and bus drivers.
“We have the money for it, just not the bodies,” Moretti said.
He said in a district with about 750 teachers, he considers it a lot if five people resign mid-year rather than waiting until the end of the academic year. “During the pandemic and last year, several weren’t willing to come back to the classroom and chose to resign,” he said. “We’ve had people say, ‘That’s it, I’m resigning.’”
Moretti said he thinks how teachers have been treated in an increasingly politicized environment -– and in particular attacks on how public education is handled — has had an impact on resignations and retirements.
Jim Hanlon, human resources assistant superintendent, doesn’t think there was a significant increase in retirements or resignations during the last year, but said there were more during the period from 2019 through the end of 2020. He said the total number of retirements reached only 28 during the 2021-2022 school year, and this spring is “not too different (from) any normal year.”
There were 51 resignations this year, compared to 93 resignations in 2020-2021. But 126 resignations were recorded in 2019-2020 -– most of which took place during the first year of the pandemic.
Hanlon did concede that overall, retirements are up since the pandemic’s onset.
“We have gotten a number of them because of COVID, but also because people are close to retiring anyway,” Hanlon said. “We’ve had chronic shortages of people from instructional aides to bus drivers to custodians. That’s where we’ve really felt the shortages.”
Chico Unified’s problems are not unique. Although Hanlon was not available for follow-up comments during July, across the nation schools have been scrambling to fill positions and keep classrooms staffed. The CUSD website showed a few unfilled teaching positions when this article was posted.
For many teachers, COVID was the tipping point, accompanied by a desire to be paid more and earn better benefits for a job that the publication EdSource describes as increasingly under fire from parents and politicians alike.
For his part, Moretti said he tends to hear only the worst stories from union members, and, “The people that are doing fine don’t call me.”
Moretti said for the past six years, the union and district have had “a really positive cooperative relationship, where we did not in the past,” which has helped improve communication about district hiring needs.
He said the school district worked hard to ensure opening schools during the pandemic was safe and to enforce protocols like masking, social distancing and cleanliness. This spring, cases were often in the single digits during a normal school week, which Moretti called a major achievement.
“It’s been a pretty stressful couple of years, but it feels like we’re getting back to normal,” Moretti told ChicoSol in an April telephone interview. “We feel like we’ve turned the corner here a bit.”
Children under stress, too
A major piece of the district’s funding will continue to be spent on children’s mental health needs and their overall well-being.
Chico Unified can continue to rely on about $16.6 million carried over from the $60 million emergency federal American Rescue Plan Act and Elementary Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, which all school districts received in 2020. The following total funds approved last year can continue to be used through 2024:
• Class size reduction K-12 -– $8.9 million
• Tutoring/Intervention -– $1.5 million
• 17 additional counselors -– $4.2 million
• Elementary and secondary summer academies -– $527,000
• Homeless/foster liaison -– $125,000
Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Jay Marchant said in an interview in the spring that the board ensured that all full-time counselors would get a third year.
Counseling requests from students doubled in 2021-2022 from what they were in 2019
The district had only three part-time wellness counselors before the pandemic. But after hearing parents’ feedback in annual meetings — that counseling helped their children recover after the Camp Fire — counseling moved up on the ladder of priorities.
“We said counseling is our number one priority,” Marchant said. The meetings were part of the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) process (see sidebar for more on LCAP) that takes place every year to identify areas where the district can use state funding to tackle learning obstacles and improve student test scores and educational outcomes.
Counseling requests from students doubled in 2021-2022 from what they were in 2019, Marchant added.
School board member Tom Lando said the district also focused federal pandemic relief funding on summer learning experiences, with improvements to facilities and materials to support those goals.
He said the district uses in-house benchmark assessments to ascertain academic performance gaps “given the unreliability of the state academic testing data during the pandemic.” Unfortunately, he said, they cannot use these funds on long-term investments like more staff in order to create lower class sizes with more small-group teaching.
“Gaps definitely exist, and both POC and low-income families have been identified as groups that are to receive additional support to increase academic outcomes, along with our homeless and foster students and our special education students,” Lando said.
“My personal pie-in-the-sky dream is that at least one of our elementary schools becomes a full-service community school, where almost all of a family’s lower-order needs — like food, clothing, counseling, etc. — are all baked into the yearly operating budget so that when a student shows up, they know they don’t have to worry about anything except learning.”
Despite the pandemic, the district’s leadership say it has maintained careful spending habits to reach this point. Superintendent Kelly Staley said CUSD has maintained healthy reserves, making it possible to use pandemic-related funding for new positions.
“We used the additional COVID-19 funds for much-needed services that directly supported our students,” Staley said in a spring email interview. “Chico Unified will be able to use the Educator Effectiveness Grant, which runs through the 2025-26 school year, to continue to fund most of the current counselors.”
Staley said the district prioritizes the identification of students who struggle to achieve educational goals, using surveys “to gauge their social-emotional wellness.”
“If a student either reports a need for support or is identified through the response analysis, the student is contacted by school support staff,” she said.
Funding to increase, but overall budget could shrink
Although staffing continues to concern officials, federal funding looks strong and the overall budget expenditures within the coming year are expected to hit $189.6 million.
However, the state cost-of-living adjustment has caused a drop in the overall projected budget through June 2023.
Chico Unified’s general fund ended June 30 with about $45 million. Based on the governor’s revised budget draft in May with a 6.56% cost-of-living adjustment, the next general fund is projected to end June 2023 with $40.7 million. The school district’s unrestricted funds – which can be used for anything – should hit $31.7 million this coming academic year, compared to about $37 million last year. Funds which have restricted, specific uses are estimated to reach $9 million compared to $8 million last year.
The board expects to have more state funding for the coming year, but must wait for the state Legislature to finalize Newsom’s new budget in August. Earlier this year, Newsom announced that the state plans to give schools and community colleges a whopping $128.3 billion and expand per-student spending to $22,850 as recovery from the pandemic continues.
The largest pieces school districts are waiting to hear about are an $8 billion one-time discretionary fund -– which schools can use to address mental health, professional development and pension costs -– and about $2 billion to combat declining enrollment and increase local control funding.
It remains to be seen how much from this funding each district will receive. Chico Unified’s Jaclyn Kruger, assistant superintendent for business services, said the budget presented June 22 and approved by the board June 29 is a draft that will be revised in August once the state budget is finalized. That means the budget in August should be larger than the draft the public saw in June, Kruger predicted.
Natalie Hanson is a Bay Area-based contributing writer to ChicoSol.
