School district proposes $13 million budget cuts amid enrollment decline

Faced with declining enrollment and a structural budget deficit, the West Contra Costa Unified School District unveiled a proposal for $13 million in cuts over the next two years to maintain fiscal solvency and avoid losing local control. The proposed reductions, presented during the January 8, 2025, school board meeting, include eliminating 90 positions over the next two years.

Dr. Kim Moses, the district’s Interim Superintendent, emphasized the need for strategic reductions while safeguarding services for underserved populations. 

“The reason why we need these reductions is that for many years now, the district has experienced a significant structural budget deficit. That means we’re spending more than we’re bringing in as revenue,” Moses said.

According to Moses, the district is experiencing declining enrollment and daily attendance. This is due to the expiration of one-time COVID funding, which is expected to deplete the district’s rainy day funds.

The district must identify $7 million in cuts for the 2025-2026 school year and an additional $6 million in reductions the following year. The cuts would come from reducing 43 positions, which equates to 1.28 percent of district staff, and $584,000 in service reductions. The following school year plan calls for an additional 47 staff cuts or 1.41 percent of the workforce. 

The fiscal solvency plan must be continued to ensure the district's fiscal sustainability and ability to maintain local control over its budget decisions. 

The average daily attendance rate for students in the school district is decreasing, which is concerning because funding is directly tied to student attendance.

The district has seen a significant reduction in enrollment over the last seven years. Since 2018, enrollment has dropped by 2,849 students from 28,122 to 25,273 in the current school year. According to the fiscal solvency plan, enrollment is expected to drop to 24,767 by the 2026-2027 school year.

“The decline in enrollment has resulted in a decline in revenue,” Moses said. “Although we have 25,273 students currently enrolled, it is projected that our average daily attendance is going to amount to about 23,312.”

The district has an average daily attendance of 92.2 percent. If it could improve to 95 percent of average daily attendance, it would increase revenue by $7.7 million and erase the need to make reductions.

Superintendent of Operations Summer Sigler said the district has targeted chronic absenteeism with the idea that reducing chronic absenteeism will increase attendance. 

“That campaign has been successful. We actually have a 13 percent reduction in chronic absenteeism year-to-date. The good news is our kids don’t meet the threshold or not as many for chronic absenteeism,” Sigler said. “The bad news is that strategy is no longer pushing up overall attendance because the number of students that are chronically truant has reduced.”

Area 4 Trustee Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy said local schools are starving for resources, staff, programs, and support, especially in the flat land area where students are not achieving academically and need even more and greater support. 

“Two years ago, we cut $10 million. Last year, we cut $19 million. Now we’re cutting even greater, and we’re gonna have to, apparently, do it for the next few years,” Gonzalez-Hoy said. “I think it’s imperative for us that instead of just cutting and cutting and cutting, we do the opposite, and we bring resources, and I’m looking at you, Dr. Moses, but really it’s for us as a board to figure out what our plan is going to be to increase attendance.”

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