\t\t\t\t\tWhat’s at stake?<\/p>\n
Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s latest budget revisions add billions of dollars to education funding, with specific allocations made to special education, employee pregnancy leave and literacy initiatives.<\/p>\n
As part of California\u2019s budget process, Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s May revision<\/a> adds billions to K-12 and community college funding, with Fresno Unified set to receive around $52 million more in funding.<\/p>\n Those funds will likely bring down the district\u2019s projected $55 million<\/a> deficit for the 2026-27 school year, although a district spokesperson wasn\u2019t able to confirm by how much just yet.<\/p>\n The governor\u2019s revised budget<\/a> released last week increases Proposition 98 funds \u2014 annual guaranteed funding for public K-12 schools and community colleges \u2014 by $6.4 billion overall.<\/p>\n The May revision also includes a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) increase to the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) for an increase of $1.3 billion in statewide discretionary funds, and an additional $907.7 million in COLA funds to help educational agencies with rising costs and funding decreases from declining enrollment.<\/p>\n Not all of the $52.5 million can be used for any purpose, Fresno Unified spokesperson AJ Kato confirmed.\u00a0<\/p>\n Never miss the top stories in Fresno \u2014 sign up for our free, daily newsletter.<\/p>\n \u201cIt adds an additional $33 million in ongoing unrestricted funding and roughly $19.5 million in one-time funds,\u201d Kato said in an email to Fresnoland.<\/p>\n Fresnoland inquired about the specific impacts the revision\u2019s increased funds will have on the district\u2019s allocations and budget. According to Jensen, more details will be reviewed at the school board meeting on May 27.<\/p>\n The upcoming meeting\u2019s agenda contains a presentation<\/a> outlining the revision\u2019s impact on FUSD\u2019s finances compared to the proposed budget in January, with planned reductions of $25 million in 2027-28 reduced to $0.<\/p>\n The governor\u2019s revised budget also features increased funding for special education, community schools and literacy coaches. It also requires all TK-12 and community college districts to provide staff with up to 14 weeks of paid pregnancy leave starting in 2026-27, with costs of the new benefit partially absorbed by the LCFF COLA increase.<\/p>\n Patrick Jensen, the district\u2019s chief financial officer, said in an interview on Monday that the new money from the state budget would help the district invest more in security and expand the number of schools in the district that offer wraparound support services for students and families, dubbed \u201ccommunity schools.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe expansion of community schools, it\u2019s going to be a huge impact on our community and that\u2019s going to let us go up to around 80 community schools,\u201d Jensen said. He added, \u201cthere\u2019s also a pot of one-time dollars that we\u2019re looking at potentially using for safety and security upgrades.\u201d<\/p>\n