(FOX40.COM) \u2014 The ongoing budget crisis at Sacramento City Unified School District went up a notch as new figures show an even deeper deficit.<\/p>\n
Last year, SCUSD revealed the district faced a $45 million deficit from the previous year, leading to a series of budget cuts board members approved in November. But the district\u2019s fiscal situation is even worse, according to a presentation<\/a> interim budget chief Lisa Grant-Dawson delivered Thursday night.<\/p>\n Those budget woes are the result of a series of what appear to be accounting errors made during the district\u2019s attempts to balance the budget last year.<\/p>\n It started with two adjustments, leading to a \u2014 theoretical \u2014 $32 million reduction in health and welfare spending in fiscal year 2025-2026, a district spokesperson told FOX40. Part of that accounting maneuver involved borrowing $20 million from a district trust dedicated to retiree health benefits.<\/p>\n But Grant-Dawson realized that it was unclear whether that $20 million could even be borrowed \u2014 adding another $20 million to the current-year deficit.<\/p>\n The previous accounting also did not include that $32 million, a one-time adjustment that was wrongly removed from plans for the next two fiscal years as well \u2014 another $64 million Grant-Dawson added back into the SCUSD\u2019s projected budget.<\/p>\n After rectifying those errors, the district will now be more than $54 million in the red this fiscal year, a development that will surely cause more headaches for the board as they look to trim the deficit. That\u2019s an increase from the $34 million deficit the district projected in a December budget report<\/a>.<\/p>\n Those figures grow substantially in the next two fiscal years, reaching a deficit approaching $200 million by the end of 2027-2028 when factoring in the corrections.<\/p>\n The increased deficit projections raise the risk that the district could face a takeover by the state. <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know what harm it\u2019s going to cause inadvertently as we\u2019re trying not to go to state receivership \u2014 which is the ultimate harm,\u201d Board President Tara Jeane said. \u201cAnd I recognize that we are out of time.\u201d<\/p>\n The board approved a few cost-cutting measures Thursday, including layoffs, an increase in furlough days and a freeze on buying non-custodial supplies. Board members felt that although the spending reductions are drastic, the state would make even deeper cuts.<\/p>\n The district also plans to freeze many currently-open positions to save on salary. <\/p>\n Another error the district made in an attempt to cut costs was to freeze all per diem pay. The result? 30 cafeteria workers who are paid on a per diem basis have not been paid in three months.<\/p>\n The board reversed that move Thursday, so all affected workers will be paid \u2014 and will receive back pay.<\/p>\n Grant-Dawson started on the job just this month after resigning a similar position in Oakland. She replaces former Chief Business Officer Janea Marking.<\/p>\n