LAUSD leaders express worries on budget, spending

Los Angeles Unified says it’s facing difficult choices as enrollment continues to steeply decline across the district. At Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole, LAUSD said it will reassess staffing and funding for programming in light of the decline and current financial realities.

Though enrollment has dropped by 70,000 students over the past five years, 10,000 positions have been added since then. Superintendent Alberto Carvalho made it clear at Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole meeting that the current overstaffing would not result in layoffs. Rather, LAUSD would redirect staff and reevaluate the current system, he said. The district will also have to reevaluate its administrator-to-teacher ratio, which has surpassed state requirements and may result in a fine if not addressed. 

The district emphasized the importance of maintaining programs like Primary Promise, which has brought additional teachers into the classroom to support students struggling with literacy and math. Tuesday’s budget workshop didn’t take into consideration upcoming priorities and programming changes expected as a result of Carvalho’s 100-day plan, though Carvalho acknowledged difficult decisions remained ahead. 

Chief Financial Officer David Hart stressed the importance of remaining wary of spending as LAUSD navigates its temporary extra funding. 

“There seems to be a sense that it’s just there for the taking; there is a sense that it has not been allocated,” Hart said. “I need to clarify clearly, that is not the case. We have expenditure plans; we do not have excess funds. We will be able to expend all of the Covid monies without exception.”

LAUSD, which currently enrolls more than 430,000 students, predicts that its enrollment decline will continue at a faster rate than predicted for both Los Angeles County and California, with a loss of another 100,000 students over the next 10 years. 

“What we know about forecasts is the further out we go, the more likely we are to be wrong,” Hart said at Tuesday’s board meeting. “But the order of magnitude here we think is concerning on a variety of fronts. This is what causes our structural imbalance.”

That, along with the lack of a centralized budget system for schools and local districts led to the current overstaffing, Carvalho said. The decentralization has led LAUSD to also exceed the state’s 8% cap on district administrative positions, he said. Until this year, the district has had a three-year waiver for the requirement, but if not met this upcoming year, the district will have to pay a $36 million fee.

“There is no vetting process,” Carvalho said. “There are no business rules that prevent individuals who have decision-making ability over their own budgets and protect the integrity of the district as a whole.”

Schoolteachers not assigned to the classroom are also considered administrative — something LAUSD has pushed the state to reconsider, Carvalho said. 

LAUSD is working on developing its strategic plan, which it hopes to finalize next month alongside the budget. The goals that will soon be outlined in the strategic plan are expected to guide budget planning through 2026.