Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma
The Fallbrook Union Elementary School District is in good financial shape, the district’s trustees were told at their Dec. 16 meeting.
In a presentation on the first of two certifications of fiscal viability required by law each year, FUESD Director of Accounting Cindy Martin told the district’s governing board that the district was shown to be able to meet its financial obligation for this fiscal year and the next two.
The report shows a “snapshot in time” of the district’s finances between July 1, the start of the current fiscal year, and Oct. 31, Martin said. The biggest change, she said, is that the district’s enrollment has increased for the second year in a row, thus upping the amount of money the district is granted through the state’s Local Control Funding Formula.
Last school year, FUESD had 4,864 students between its five elementary schools, one K-8 school, one junior high school and one alternative school. This year, the district has 5,043 students, according to the California Department of Education statistics – an increase of more than 3%.
The district now anticipates receiving an increase of about $1.7 million in LCFF funding for about $51 million, according to a staff report.
Martin described that increase as “huge, especially when you consider the state, how many districts are declining (in enrollment).”
“We as a district had at least a decade of declining enrollment and this is now our second year of actual growth,” she said.
Because of the increase in enrollment, the district has added 10 new general education teachers – four at Potter Junior High, three at Mary Fay Pendleton Elementary, two at Live Oak Elementary and one at Maie Ellis Elementary. An additional special education teacher was also hired at Potter. And the district hired 10 more part time and six more full time classified employees.
“It takes more people to teach the kids,” Martin said. “So, more kiddos, more teachers.”
The cost of the new positions, as well as some carry-over expenditures, contributed to an increase of about $2 million in expenditures for a projected total of about $48 million for the entire fiscal year. However, the district expects to take in about $57 million in total revenue for the year – putting it in the black. The district has for several years been operating with planned deficit spending, but Martin said this year is the first time the district will not have to run a deficit.
Will Fritz can be reached by email at [email protected].
Reader Comments(0)