Category Archives: School finance

Education institutions collect more than $2.2B from Lottery in 2023-24 | dailyrepublic.com

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By Todd R. Hansen

The California Lottery announced it has generated close to $2.3 billion for public education during the third straight fiscal year.

“Final audit figures for the 2023-24 fiscal year confirm the California Lottery has much to celebrate as it begins its 40th year of providing supplemental funding to California’s public education system,” the Lottery said in a statement.

“Total sales once again exceeded $9 billion, resulting in contributions of more than $2.287 billion for public education programs statewide, from kindergarten to the community college, California State University, and University of California systems. This marks the third consecutive year the California Lottery has been able to generate over $2 billion to public schools across the state.”

Source: Education institutions collect more than $2.2B from Lottery in 2023-24 | News | dailyrepublic.com

VUSD trustees to hear complete annual financial report for 2023-24 – The Vacaville Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Vacaville Unified School District leaders are expected to approve an annual complete financial report for the fiscal year 2023-24 when they meet Thursday night in Vacaville.

Known as “unaudited actuals,” the report shows the district’s actual revenue and expenses before they are formally audited, generally by an independent financial firm.

Kelly Burks, associate superintendent of business and administrative services, will make the presentation to the governing board.

Source: VUSD trustees to hear complete annual financial report for 2023-24 – The Vacaville Reporter

Annual complete financial report on TUSD agenda – The Vacaville Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Travis Unified leaders are expected to approve an annual complete financial report for the fiscal year 2023-24 when they meet Tuesday night in Fairfield.

Known as “unaudited actuals,” the report is an accounting which shows the district’s complete fiscal picture before it is formally audited, generally by an independent financial firm.

Chief Business Officer Gabe Moulaison will make the presentation to the five-member governing board.

Source: Annual complete financial report on TUSD agenda – The Vacaville Reporter

Fairfield-Suisun school trustees to hear updates on financial matters – Daily Republic

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By Susan Hiland

Trustees in the Fairfield-Suisun School District will hear presentations Thursday that center on finances: one on child nutrition programs, and one on deferred maintenance and future projects.

The first presentation is an annual update on Child Nutrition Services.

The district’s nutritional programs include a Seamless Summer Feeding Program, Community Eligibility Provision School Nutrition Programs and an At-Risk After School Supper Program.

Source: Fairfield-Suisun school trustees to hear updates on financial matters

Fairfield-Suisun school board OKs unaudited financial report – Daily Republic

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By Susan Hiland

Fairfield-Suisun School District trustees on Thursday approved the unaudited financial report for the previous academic year.

The report represents the financial status of all funds of the district at the end of the school year on June 30. It will serve as the basis for the 2021-22 audit report submitted to the Solano County Superintendent of Schools, according to Amanda Rish, director of Fiscal Services, who presented the report to the board.

Source: Fairfield-Suisun school board OKs unaudited financial report

Fairfield-Suisun trustees set to review school finances – Daily Republic

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By Susan Hiland

Trustees of the Fairfield-Suisun School District will receive an update Thursday on the district’s financial health.

Amanda Rish, director of Fiscal Services, will give a presentation on the unaudited financial status of the district.

This financial statement represents the financial status of all funds of the district as of June 30 and will be the basis for the 2021-2022 audit report submitted to the Solano County Superintendent of Schools.

Source: Fairfield-Suisun trustees set to review school finances

Fairfield-Suisun Secures $2 Million Grant – Daily Republic

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The Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District secured a two million dollar grant from the California Department of Education (CDE) to implement social-emotional supports and programs for students and staff. As part of the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, the CDE awarded twenty-one grants throughout California that ranged from $15,000 to $2,000,000. Fairfield-Suisun Unified was only one of four grantees throughout California to earn the top award.

Source: Press Release: Fairfield-Suisun Secures $2 Million Grant

Schools would get $1 billion to help homeless students under bipartisan federal proposal – The Reporter

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By Carolyn Jones

Homeless youth and families, who’ve been largely left out of federal coronavirus aid, would get more than $1 billion under a bipartisan proposal put forth this week in the U.S. Senate.

The proposal includes money for shelters, motel bills, food, school supplies and other services intended to help homeless students, whose numbers are expected to grow as unemployment soars to Depression-era levels nationwide.

“It’s what we need right now during this crisis,” said Darla Barbine, executive director of the National Network for Youth, an advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. “We were already at record levels of youth homelessness before the pandemic, but the coronavirus has put a spotlight on these deep fissures in our society.”

Source: Schools would get $1 billion to help homeless students under bipartisan federal proposal – The Reporter

Vallejo school board approves multiple Measure S contracts – Times-Herald

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By John Glidden

Without comment, the Vallejo City Unified School District approved several Measure S related items during Wednesday’s board meeting.

They approved a contract between the district and Miller Pacific Engineering for geotechnical evaluation for the Corbus Field resurfacing project, according to a staff report to the five-person school board.

The $14,500 contract includes a field drainage assessment, assistance with field design if needed and construction observation and testing, staff said.

Source: Vallejo school board approves multiple Measure S contracts – Times-Herald

How much stimulus aid will your California school receive? That depends – The Reporter

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By John Fensterwald and Daniel Willis

By July 1, California school districts should get some financial relief from their share of $1.65 billion in federal stimulus funds that the state is expected to receive. Educators are hoping it will be the first installment of a bigger influx of federal aid later this summer that will let them shore up their budgets from expected cuts in state funding, as well as cover additional expenses from the coronavirus.

For school districts facing the potential prospect of big cuts in state funding next year, the funds represent a gift horse — flexible cash with few strings attached that can be spent on multiple costs of the pandemic. These could include items such as buying computers and internet access, covering the costs of distance learning, extended learning next year or paying for cleaning supports and costs of reopening schools.

Source: How much stimulus aid will your California school receive? That depends – The Reporter

Betsy DeVos Releases Billions More in Coronavirus Education Aid – Education Week

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By Andrew Ujifusa

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has officially announced that $13.5 billion in emergency coronavirus funding for K-12 schools is now available.

The billions in additional aid was included in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act signed into law by President Donald Trump last month. The money will initially go to states, but at least 90 percent ultimately must be passed along to school districts via the Title I formula designed to help schools with large shares of students from low-income households.

Schools can use this pot of CARES Act money for a variety of purposes to help them deal with the fallout of the virus, which has forced dozens of states to shut down in-person classes for the rest of the school year. For example, educators can use it to provide access to the internet for students struggling to learn remotely, mental health supports, and support for special populations of students such as those who are homeless.

Source: Betsy DeVos Releases Billions More in Coronavirus Education Aid – Politics K-12 – Education Week

CA Receives Approval for Crisis Response Funds – Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)

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The U.S. Department of Education has granted preliminary approval to California’s request for flexibility in using federal funds to ease the immediate impacts of COVID-19 school closures.

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond and State Board of Education President Linda Darling-Hammond submitted the request for waivers, authorized under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, on Friday, April 10, 2020. The waivers were approved today.

The waivers loosen restrictions on how and when federal education funds can be spent. They remove a cap on technology purchases, ease limits on the amount of unspent federal funds that can be carried over from one federal fiscal year to the next, and relax rules about the use of money for teacher professional development.

Source: CA Receives Approval for Crisis Response Funds – Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)

State schools chief: $100M in COVID-19 funding available to districts – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

For California school district leaders worried about the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, help is on the way.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond on Thursday announced that $100 million will be sent to the more than 1,000 school districts.

The money, included in SB 117, one of two COVID-19 emergency bills passed by the Legislature on March 17, comes as California’s districts — classified as elementary, high school or unified — have suspended classes until early May and may face the possibility of closure until the fall.

Source: Coronavirus: State schools chief: $100M in COVID-19 funding available to districts – The Reporter

House Coronavirus Bill Would Direct Billions to Schools, Fund Remote Learning – Education Week

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By Andrew Ujifusa

Stimulus legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives to cope with impact of the coronavirus pandemic would create a $50 billion fund to stabilize states’ education budgets, including a minimum of roughly $15 billion specifically for K-12 school districts.

In addition, the House’s Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act would loosen rules under the E-Rate program in order to help schools and other organizations provide internet-connected devices and mobile broadband internet access to students. And it would provide $200 million to Project SERV grants, which assist schools that are affected by natural disasters and community violence, as well as additional money for Head Start.

Source: House Coronavirus Bill Would Direct Billions to Schools, Fund Remote Learning – Politics K-12 – Education Week

Suit on Behalf of Five More California School Districts to Hold JUUL Labs, Inc. Accountable – Yahoo Finance

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California School Districts with Suits Filed Against JUUL Labs, Inc. (Graphic: Business Wire)

The five lawsuits, filed on behalf of Pacific Grove Unified School District, Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District, El Dorado Union High School District, Downey Unified School District, and Santa Cruz City Schools were filed in their respective counties, and the Case Numbers are 20CV000991, FCS054513, PC20200144, 20STCV09614, respectively.

These districts join 18 other school districts that have also filed, including Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest school district in the nation; San Diego Unified, the second largest district in California; Glendale Unified; Compton Unified; Anaheim Elementary; King City Union; Ceres Unified; Chico Unified; Davis Joint Unified; Poway Unified; Rocklin Unified; Acalanes Union High; Monterey Peninsula Unified; Anaheim Union High; Castro Valley Unified; Campbell Union High; Cajon Valley Union; and North Monterey County Unified School District to take a stand against JUUL’s promotion of dangerous and addictive products.

Source: Baron & Budd and Panish Shea & Boyle File Suit on Behalf of Five More California School Districts to Hold JUUL Labs, Inc. Accountable for Targeting Youth and Creating an E-Cigarette Epidemic that Impedes District-Wide Learning

VCUSD budget update — expected to drop under 10,000 students in two years – Times-Herald

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By John Glidden

Vallejo Unified School District officials anticipate there will be less than 10,000 students attending district schools by the 2021-22 school year, continuing the trend of declining enrollment.

The Vallejo school board on Dec. 11 unanimously approved the first interim report for the district’s budget — which includes anticipated student attendance.

Adrian Vargas, the district’s chief business official, said the district expects to have about 9,892 students in two years — down at least 1,300 students from the current count of 11,259. He noted student loss to ELITE Charter School and the new Griffin Academy High School as two of the primary reasons.

Source: Vallejo district gets budget update — expected to drop under 10,000 students in two years – Times-Herald

Solano College receives upgrade in credit rating, refinances bonds – Daily Republic

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By Daily Republic Staff

The Solano Community College District earlier this month received an upgrade in its credit rating from Moody’s Investors Service.

The district then refinanced bonds Nov. 13 to save taxpayers almost $21 million, according to a press release.

Moody’s raised its rating on the district’s general obligation bonds from AA3 to AA2, meaning “high quality and very low credit risk.”

Source: Solano College receives upgrade in credit rating, refinances bonds

Trump Emergency Declaration Could Endanger Aid for School Projects on Military Bases – Education Week

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By Alyson Klein

More than $500 million in funding for construction projects at schools serving the children of military personnel could be in jeopardy, thanks to President Donald Trump’s move to declare a national emergency and shift some $8 billion allocated to defense construction and other purposes to build a wall along the southern border with Mexico.

That’s according to an analysis of military construction projects circulated by the House Appropriations Committee, which is controlled by Democrats. The list of potentially impacted projects includes turning the former Fort Campbell High School in Fort Campbell, Ky., into a new middle school. Construction projects at schools on military bases in Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom could also be affected.

For its part, the Trump administration has said it will divert roughly $3.6 billion from military construction to wall construction, but it has not yet identified which projects would be affected.

Source: Trump Emergency Declaration Could Endanger Aid for School Projects on Military Bases – Politics K-12 – Education Week

Betsy DeVos Releases Proposed Guidance on School Spending – Education Week

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By Andrew Ujifusa

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has released proposed guidance to schools about a provision of the Every Student Succeeds Act that prohibits schools from cutting state and local money from education and simply filling the hole with federal funding.

DeVos released the proposed nonregulatory guidance on Friday. Among other things, it clearly states that districts do not need to ensure that there is equal per-pupil spending between Title I schools (those with relatively high shares of low-income students) and non-Title I schools.

After ESSA passed in 2015, the Obama administration proposed regulations that would have required spending at Title I schools to be at least equal to that of the non-Title I schools. But the idea got a torrent of criticism from state and local school officials and others, although civil rights advocates in particular defended the proposal. Those regulations were never finalized before the Trump administration took over.

Source: Betsy DeVos Releases Proposed Guidance on School Spending – Politics K-12 – Education Week

CPR fundraiser benefits Public Safety Academy – Daily Republic

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By Daily Republic Staff

The Leadership Today Class of 2018 is hosting a fundraiser for the Public Safety Academy.

Leadership Today is attended by select city employees and community business leaders. Attendees are selected by both the Fairfield-Suisun Chamber of Commerce and the Vacaville Chamber of Commerce.

The course focuses on group activities to develop leadership skills.

CPR training is planned from 10 a.m. to noon April 28 at NorthBay Healthcare’s HealthSpring Fitness, 1020 Nut Tree Road in Vacaville and from 6 to 8 p.m. April 30 at Brandman University, 2450 Martin Road in Fairfield.

Source: CPR fundraiser benefits Public Safety Academy