The Governor presented his Proposed 2015-2016 Budget on January 9th. AUSD staff, as well as two board members and labor leadership, attended the School Services of California budget presentation on January 15th. With the Local Control Funding Formula in place, any increases to school districts will vary by each Local Education Agency (LEA).
The Governor’s proposed 2015-2016 Budget contains good news for school districts. The California economy is maintaining its steady growth. The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) is fully funded for the 2015-2016, with 58% of the gap between current funding and the goal funding amount of 2020-2021 completed.
Some of the major highlights of the proposed budget include: funded Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) of 1.58%; the elimination of deferrals; $1.1B in one-time funding suggested for Common Core implementation or upcoming textbook adoptions: and positive proposals for both Adult Education and Career Technical Education (CTE).
The release of the Governor’s proposed budget is just the first step in a marathon that will end with the adoption of the State budget in June. The District will work to prepare the 2nd Interim Budget Report for the March 10th board meeting. At that time, the Governor’s proposed budget will be reflected in the District’s multi-year projection (MYP). The creation of the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) will continue over the spring for final adoption in June. The Governor will release the Revised Proposed 2015-2016 Budget in May, and staff will work to make the pertinent changes to the final AUSD budget adoption for the June 9th board meeting, with board action to adopt at the June 23rd meeting.