With costs rising and relief money gone, LAUSD taps reserves to pay for new budget

The Los Angeles Unified board unanimously approved a $18.8 billion budget that relies on diminishing reserves to make ends meet.

“There is a tempest ahead, uncertainty, instability, a threat to public education as we know it,” Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said as he gave updates to the district’s financial plan Tuesday. “But this budget reflects your values, your beliefs, your principles and I believe strongly that it also reflects budget practices that strike a balance between the immediate need and the longer-term reality our district faces.”

California funds schools based on how many students show up to class each day. Enrollment is declining throughout the state, particularly in areas with high costs of living. About 408,000 students attended LAUSD this past school year, a more than 40% decline from enrollment two decades ago.

How bad is the fiscal outlook?

LAUSD is spending more money than it brings in. The district will pull from its reserves for a second year to make up a nearly $3 billion deficit.

It has not closed schools or significantly reduced staff as costs have increased and billions of dollars of federal pandemic relief money ran out.

That’s a different approach than other local districts. Pasadena and Santa Ana Unified, for instance, announced plans this year to lay off hundreds of staff before next school year.

California law requires districts to create a “fiscal stabilization plan” if they’re at risk of not meeting their financial obligations. LAUSD’s board approved a plan last week that includes the possibility of school closures, layoffs of non-school-based staff, and cutting how much money individual schools can carry over in their budgets from year to year.

What is the district spending more money on?

District staff highlighted increased funding for several programs next school year:

• $175 million for Black Student Achievement Plan, a program started in 2021 to bring more resources to campuses with large numbers of Black students that has expanded to serve other populations. 
• $60 million to pay for an estimated 1,400 positions that don’t have a dedicated funding source, including some staff hired with pandemic relief funding
• $46 million to backfill expected federal funding cuts 
• $5 million to expand centers that support immigrant students and their families 
• $2 million to support LTBTQ+ students, in part through staff training and professional development
• $1 million to create more green space on school campuses

The district’s budget does not account for several factors:

• Contracts currently being negotiated with the school support staff and teachers unions that could include raises.
• Additional reductions in federal funding.
• Unsettled sexual abuse claims that stretch back decades.

Have more questions?

If you want to know how the district budget or fiscal stabilization plan might affect your school, you can reach out to your school board member.