The tone has shifted from frustration last week to cautious optimism, with officials signaling the district may be inching toward a plan to stabilize its finances.<\/p>\n
Board members say there is now a clearer path to avoid insolvency and possibly a state takeover. New numbers show the district no longer expects to run out of cash. Staff say Sacramento City Unified should finish with just over $3 million in cash on hand while still carrying a significant deficit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are tentatively thrilled. Tentative, excited that we have cash through June and that fiscal insolvency is not in the next four or five months. I say tentatively because we don’t know what info is coming,\u201d said SCUSD Board President Tara Jeane<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The updated solvency plan identifies nearly $44 million in savings the district believes it can realistically achieve. Still, the long-term outlook remains challenging, with a projected deficit growing to $113 million for the next school year.<\/p>\n \u201cI was excited when I began to hear what was coming. Do we have everything solved? No. Do we have a lot more work to do? Absolutely. Are we committed to doing that? Yes,\u201d Jeane said.<\/p>\n District staff say the focus now is on cutting mid-year spending while building a leaner budget going forward.<\/p>\n Last week, the board approved reassigning or laying off administrators until reaching a 270-employee level and furloughing non-union staff for 12 days.<\/p>\n Some district employees and unions are pushing back on the proposed furloughs and administrator layoffs.\u00a0<\/p>\n Members of United Professional Educators (UPE), a union for administrators and certificated staff in Sacramento City Unified, said they disagree with the proposed changes. They said they understand the district is facing a crisis, but argue that the situation does not allow the district to breach its agreements.<\/p>\n \u201cChanges of this magnitude without bargaining are not procedural oversights,” said the UPE representative.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen administrators are taken out of the workplace, then schools do not function the same,” said a SCUSD administrator. “School leaders are not asking for special treatment, but we are asking for fair treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFurloughing unrepresented staff, once deemed essential, means furloughing our chefs and our nutrient supervisors who make this program work,” said an attendee.<\/p>\n The board told staff it does not want to cut anything that was negotiated with unions.<\/p>\n Later in the meeting, the board removed the furlough option from the table.<\/p>\n The district\u2019s next solvency plan update is scheduled for Feb. 19 as leaders work to prove the numbers add up.<\/p>\n ![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/4307a921-f3b8-4d4a-8977-fd6b775a0ff6_16x9.jpg\"\/)
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