Los Angeles Unified projecting budget deficits following May revision

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The Los Angeles Unified School District, among other districts, has called on the state to help mitigate financial challenges for projects. And despite some help, they’re still anticipating deficits beginning in the 2027-28 academic year.

For its June general, unrestricted budget, LAUSD is projecting a deficit of $1.351 billion for the 2027-28 academic year, according to a presentation Tuesday at the board’s Committee of the Whole meeting. That’s taking the updated cost-of-living adjustment from the governor’s May revision into account. But with possible additional May revision revenue, that deficit could drop to $514 million.

For the 2028-29 academic year, LAUSD is projecting a deficit of $3.581 billion compared with $2.534 billion after accounting for additional revenue from the May revision.

“I want to kind of take us back to a couple of weeks ago when some of us were in Sacramento marshaling some advocacy to various elected officials, the governor’s office themselves,” said acting LAUSD Superintendent Andrés Chait on Tuesday. “I want to mark that I do think that some of the movement that we saw in the May revise can be attributed to the advocacy that folks that are sitting here and that we partnered with vis-a-vis labor really did move the needle, as it were.”

The district’s budget also takes into account agreements reached last month with three unions that will cost $1.2 billion annually.

“We’re not in a place necessarily where we’d like to be. I continue to be concerned about the almost $4 billion that is being withheld in terms of Prop 98,” Chait said. “Those are dollars that are for today’s kids, and therefore should be allocated today, so that they can go out and serve our schools as needed. So, there is still a significant amount of advocacy to come.”