LAKEPORT — The Lakeport Unified School District Governing Board will meet Wednesday to discuss the feasibility of building a community pool and to consider approval of the district’s 2019-2020 budget.
Constructing a new pool was one focal point of a 2014 bond measure approved by voters to produce $17 million for infrastructure projects within LUSD. On Wednesday, the LUSD board will be asking for public input regarding which remaining bond-targeted projects should be given priority, taking into consideration that approximately $2 million dollars remains in the Measure T bond fund.
In conjunction with these prioritization talks, the board will discuss the feasibility of a new community pool. Board President Dan Buffalo has stated that the LUSD community has indicated in surveys that the pool should be given a high priority.
The district concluded in 2018 that the cost to build a new pool would be far more than originally expected and would exceed the amount of remaining bond funds. Since then, new information has become available and the district will be hiring a private consultant to investigate its options.
A proposal for services from that firm—the Aquatic Design Group of Carlsbad—to be considered by the board on Wednesday, states that the firm will visit the existing pool site, review the conditions of the facility and draft a report on those conditions. Based on the findings of this report, the firm proposes to outline how the district could proceed with three potential options: renovation of the existing facility, removal and replacement of the facility with “moderate program enhancement,” or reconstruction with “extensive program enhancement.”
Deliberations regarding the pool will coincide with the board’s pending approval of the district’s 2019-2020 budget—one that projects fund balances for the district to reach a $584,732 deficit by the end of the 2021-2022 fiscal year.
In a letter prefacing the proposed budget, LUSD Business Manager Jacque Eischens writes that a projected decrease in certain funding sources along with increased expenditures “has a significant impact” on predicted fund balances.
Eischens notes: “It is very unlikely the County office of Education will approve the budget. Should this happen, Eischens writes, the Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team—a state program that provides fiscal guidance to local school districts—will be “required to come into the district to do an extensive review.”
Eischens does predict almost $1 million to be available for reserves in the short-term of the upcoming fiscal year, and notes that changes to the state’s budget could positively effect LUSD’s finances.
Still, Eischens recommends a $300,000 reduction in expenditures for 2019-2020. Such a reduction, which Eischens writes would be “prudent for the District to explore,” would “allow us to meet our reserves in 2019-20 and 2020-21. In 2021-22 we would have a positive ending fund balance but unable to meet the 3 percent reserve requirements.”
Also Wednesday, the board will take action to approve a new Local Control Accountability Plan. The plan will be presented at the board meeting by Interim Superintendent Patrick Iaccino and is considered by some to be the “roadmap” for the district. The LCAP includes which projects and programs the district will fund for the year. The State requires the district complete this plan before providing Local Control Funding Formula funds. LCFF funding accounts for approximately 81 percent of the total district budget. Greatest progress and greatest needs for the 2017-2018 school year will also be shared.
The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, June 26 at the District Office Board Room located at 2508 Howard Avenue in Lakeport.
