$70 Million Budget Uses $4.4 Million Windfall to Help Avoid Teacher Layoffs

An unusual windfall of $4.4 million for Castro Valley schools turned up last August and October but was held in reserve rather than spent in the school year that just ended, said Mike Bush, assistant superintendent of business services.

"As fortunate as the news is, it is several months old at this point," Bush said.

The figure is part of the coming school year's $70 million budget and helps explain why no layoffs are expected this year, according to a staff report for Thursday's school board agenda. Enrollment is expected to be the same: 9,021 students. About $58 million goes toward salaries and benefits; $1.7 million to books and supplies.

However, even with the windfall, the Castro Valley Unified School District has $7 million less to spend this year than it did three years ago, the report says.

You can see a "user friendly" version of the entire budget, complete with illustrations, pie charts and a glossary, by clicking here.

"The reductions in recent years have resulted in the loss of approximately 35 full-time personnel and the value service that these employees provide," the report for the school board meeting says.

The district received an unexpected $1.7 million in federal funding in August and an unexpected $2.7 million in state funding in October, when the state passed its budget three months late, the report says.

That $4.4 million was held for following school year "since the current-year budget was already in place and school was either about to begin (August) or was already in session (October)," Bush said.

"This type of windfall is very unusual and we really didn't expect this to happen," Bush said.  "We're glad that it did. As we reported in September and October, these funds will be used to preserve programs and avoid layoffs to the extent possible."

The school board will be asked to approve the preliminary budget at and a final budget at its June 29 meeting.

The staff report says the three-year outlook is "complicated by the fact that both the state and district have used one-time or limited-time solutions in resolving the budget crisis." Staff expect new and unknown needs, pent-up demand for program restoration, and inflation to "compete for limited funds."

To read the staff's report on the budget, see pages 79 and 8o of the agenda packet.