San Francisco school district faces dire budget crisis

SAN FRANCISCO - School board members in San Francisco called a special meeting Tuesday night to hear the results of a state audit on its budget crisis.

It came just days after officials from the California Department of Education announced they would be assigning fiscal advisers to the district, who will have approval and veto power over some of the district's financial decisions.

School board members and state education officials agree that a hiring freeze, steep budget cuts, and school closures will likely end up being part of the solution to the district's budget problems.

A state auditor, Christy White, presented her findings on the San Francisco Unified School District's budget picture.

She said the district "barely" meets the minimum financial economic reserve.

Parents and community members who read the report criticized the district's focus on administrative spending and its lack of budget transparency.

"We haven't had a financial officer for years? Page nine calls out the overuse of consultants? You're going to close schools instead of fix what's going on down there?" said one parent who called in during the public comment period of the meeting.

"The budget is a moral document," said SFUSD parent Patrick Wolff. "To budget ineffectively is a moral failing."

San Francisco School Board President Lainie Motamedi agreed there is a lot of work to be done, and said the audit was a necessary preliminary step.

"Right now we're in a position where we can at least see the dots that need to connect," Motamedi said. "That is the first step in the repair."

SFUSD has until June to work with those state-appointed fiscal advisers to come up with a new plan to fix its deficit and revenue problems.

The projected budget deficit for SFUSD is $420 million by the 2025 fiscal year.

The district is also expected to continue to see lower student enrollment, a trend plaguing public school districts state-wide, as birth rates decline and families seek alternatives to public eduction.

The San Francisco School Board has formed a subcommittee to discuss the budget problems and what cuts to make.

The public will have a chance to weigh in and comment at the next meeting on May 15.