The Abridged version:
Last week, the Sacramento City Unified school board unanimously approved spending up to $400,000 on consultants to help with the district’s multi-million-dollar budget crisis.
A representative from the Sacramento County Office of Education the next day pulled the plug, calling the decision “inconsistent with the district’s recovery.”
Sacramento City Unified School District will not be able to hire outside help to get out of a $170 million budget crisis.
That’s according to a fiscal adviser from the Sacramento County Office of Education, who has been assisting the district since the start of the year. Due to Sacramento City Unified’s precarious financial position, the county office has authority to override any decision it feels would worsen the situation.
According to Luz Cázares, county advisor, that includes spending up to $400,000 on three consultants from HYA, an education financial firm.
Reasons for her decision included ambiguous financial impact and a lack of due diligence, “as other contractors were not considered to ensure competitiveness,” Cázares’ email to the district read on Friday.
School board members had unanimously approved hiring the consultants during a special board meeting the day before.
Savannah Kuchar is a reporter covering education. She came to Sacramento to be a part of the Abridged team and contribute to a crucial local news source.