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<\/a><\/p>\nFrom stretching dollars to cutting jobs, San Diego County schools spent the last year cranking numbers to reach fiscal solvency amid declining enrollment.<\/p>\n
The new year will likely bring the same challenges.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Experts are expecting schools to see even fewer students over the next decade \u2014 and essentially less funding. Now, school officials are working to right-size their districts as they face continued financial pressure and rising costs.<\/p>\n
Here are the top education issues to watch in 2026.<\/p>\n
Enrollment declines<\/p>\n
Schools in San Diego are continuing to report fewer enrolled students.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Enrollment across the county\u2019s non-charter schools has dropped by roughly 57,000 students, or about 14%, state data shows.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lower birth rates, high housing costs, migration changes and an increased interest in alternative education<\/a> are among the reasons why some school districts are seeing fewer students.\u00a0<\/p>\n At South Bay Union, declining enrollment has pushed some of its schools to the brink of extinction. Three campuses are now slated to close. The first one: Central Elementary, which will shut down when the school year ends in June. Superintendent Jose Espinoza has previously said that layoffs are likely.<\/p>\n This year, about 3,500 students are enrolled at the district, roughly half from a decade ago. It\u2019s the steepest enrollment decline compared to any other district in the county over that same period.<\/p>\n Declines are projected to continue statewide. At San Diego Unified, board President Richard Barrera is eyeing housing projects as a way to potentially attract families, Voice of San Diego reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n Funding shortages<\/p>\n As student enrollment dwindles, more schools are facing financial challenges.\u00a0<\/p>\n Each of the county\u2019s 10 largest school districts projected spending more than they\u2019re bringing in for the second year in a row, according to budget records that inewsource<\/a> reviewed last year.<\/p>\n Declining enrollment is partly the cause. That\u2019s because fewer students means fewer dollars:\u00a0Education funding in California is given to districts based on their students\u2019 average daily attendance.\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, school districts are dealing with rising costs, including liability insurance and special education.<\/p>\n Last month, the Chula Vista Elementary School District discussed the need<\/a> to potentially cut $5 million from the budget. Those reductions could hit counseling and behavioral support services.<\/p>\n And San Diego Unified, the county\u2019s largest district and the second-largest in the state, is projecting a $47 million deficit next fiscal year. Superintendent Fabi Bagula said a major reason is because special education is chronically underfunded<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThese services cost us more than $400 million annually, yet we receive only $125 million from state, federal and local sources. The remaining $275 million-plus comes from our general funds,\u201d Bagula said in a video to district families. \u201cThis is not sustainable and it\u2019s not fair to our children and families.\u201d<\/p>\n Workforce costs<\/p>\n The vast majority of school budgets go toward personnel costs. San Diego Unified, for example, spends roughly 95% of its unrestricted budget on employee compensation.\u00a0<\/p>\n When student enrollment boomed \u2014 and subsequent COVID-19 pandemic funding helped cover costs \u2014 districts increased their staffing levels.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, budget restraints are forcing schools to slim down. Last year, school districts across the county reduced their workforce, either by eliminating vacant positions or through layoffs.<\/p>\n Those reductions come as some districts are dealing with tense labor talks. More than a dozen school districts across the state are at an impasse with teachers unions<\/a> over contract negotiations. Some are threatening to strike.<\/p>\n South Bay Union teachers have been negotiating new terms for pay and other issues since May 2024. If a deal isn\u2019t reached, nearly all members have signed a pledge to go on strike<\/a> as soon as this month.<\/p>\n Marguerite Roza, director of the Edunomics Lab and a research professor at Georgetown University, said in a September article<\/a> that staff cuts will be unavoidable<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe only question is whether leaders will shrink in ways that ultimately degrade their school systems or do the hard work of seeking a smaller but more effective delivery model for the students they now serve,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \t\t\tType of Content<\/p>\n News: Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Why this matters More than 475,000 students attended a school in San Diego County last year. From stretching…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":128144,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[15,63295,74,84,76,75],"class_list":["post-128143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-education","tag-eyes-on-2026","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-county","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}