Welcome to District Dollars
What's New
For a third straight year, the Davis Joint Unified School District (DJUSD) faces budget cuts because of less funding from the California state government. In January Davis school superintendent James Hammond presented the Board of Education with a proposal to close a $5.6 million budget gap for the 2010-11 school year.
District Dollars is a web-based, interactive program to help you understand the DJUSD budget situation.
You will learn about:
- How we pay for California schools
- How much money the district gets and how it is spent
- What are the different options for balancing the budget
- The superintendent’s plan to close the budget gap
- The timeline for budget decisions
We want to hear from you!
District Dollars lets you ask questions, provide feedback and share your own values about education priorities. Collective results will be reviewed during district budget discussions.
Note: The budget and specific numbers are subject to change.
What’s New
On June 30, 2010 the Board of Education of the Davis Joint Unified School District adopted a budget for the 2010-11 school year. This is their legal obligation, despite the fact that state of California has not yet passed their budget.
Since 2007-08, the Davis Joint Unified School District has lost over $9 million in general fund revenue from the state. This does not include $5 million of unfunded inflation increases (i.e. COLA), and amounts to 15% of district revenue. In all, state funding has decreased by $1,165 per pupil.
In response, the district has reduced programs and positions by $2 million in 2009-10 and more than $2 million for 2010-11. In total, 65 FTE have been eliminated, 6% of the district’s workforce. This has resulted in increasing class sizes K-12 and reduced administrative, secretarial and maintenance services to support safe campuses. Recent reductions are detailed under the Superintendent’s Proposal.
To soften the blow of state funding the reductions, the district also implemented several one time solutions as part of their 2010-11 budget. These include closing the budget gap with:
- $1.9 million in reserve funds;
- $1.8 million in transfers from previously restricted program funds, reducing or eliminating those services;
- $1.2 million in employee salary reductions in exchange for five fewer days in the school year; and
- $1.5 million in donations from the community.
The district cannot count on having these one-time options available next year. In adopting the 2010-11 budget, the DJUSD Board of Education acknowledged it must address the district’s $4.5 million structural deficit by submitting a list of ongoing budget reductions to the Yolo County Office of Education by December 15, 2010.
Administration continues to monitor the state budget situation for its impact upon the district’s financial stability. Any further reductions will increase the district’s deficit.
“There remain challenges ahead for California school districts, but Davis is better prepared than most to meet them. I commend Board, staff and community for their determined efforts to protect our students.” — Former Superintendent James Q. Hammond
Davis Joint Unified School District
Dr. J. Quezon Hammond · Superintendent
526 B Street · Davis, CA 95616 · 530-757-5300 · www.djusd.net