LAKE COUNTY—A school district official made grim projections for Lakeport Unified during a budget presentation at the Wednesday school board meeting.
In a more conservative projection, speculating that a two percent drop in revenue will occur each year from 2021 to 2023, the LUSD would have about a $1.5 million budget deficit at the end of 2023. In another projection, this time with a seven percent drop in each year from 2021 to 2022 and a zero percent drop in 2023, the deficit is projected to be about $4.5 million. Budget cuts will have to be made to offset the potential deficits.
The calculations, made by Chief Business Official Jacque Eischens during the virtual meeting, is reflective of the economic hardship brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“And we don’t know yet,” if $4.5 million is “the worst-case scenario,” she said in a phone interview the morning after her presentation. Just a couple weeks ago, she continued, the $1.5 million figure appeared to be the most severe outcome. “And now that’s looking like our best. So, at that level of $4.5 million, we would have to cut a significant portion of our staff because about 83 to 85 percent of our budget is salaries and benefits. So, in order to reduce that amount, we would need to reduce our staffing to a point that would be very difficult to maintain and keeping the district running.”
As Eischens pointed out, LUSD is not alone in its financial woes, as a drop in revenue is occurring for various educational institutions across the state.
“We are not alone in this. I do firmly believe that most of the districts within the state of California will be filling a negative budget in June,” she said during her presentation. “There’s definitely no shame. If that’s what we get to, that we have to file a negative budget, we won’t be alone.”
While uncertain if the state is ready to accommodate such a wave, Eischens added that she hoped Gov. Gavin Newsom’s revised budget, to be released Thursday, will provide clarity and “maybe a little hope.”
The multi-year projections from Eischens are in flux due to the district awaiting the governor’s budget, the pending circumstances surrounding eventual school openings and other factors.
The CARES Act, the historical federal stimulus package passed in late March in response to the pandemic, was brought up during the “shared screen” slideshow held via Zoom. Eischens said there have been different estimates to how much aid LUSD will be receiving but a possible amount she presented was $375,000. She did not include CARES funding in the budget as the numbers are still not definitive.
Eischens will be leaving her position so she can move to Arizona in September to be near her mother. The pandemic did not influence her decision, she said, the timing was coincidental. The district is searching for a successor. Eischens added that she has offered contracting services to LUSD after retirement.
The LUSD school board meetings are held monthly. According to its website, the next meeting is on June 10.
