The Abridged version:
- Sacramento City Unified leaders are contesting a recent decision out of the Sacramento County Office of Education. Representatives from the state education department said the district may have a path to appeal, though the legality remains murky.
- An agreement with the Sacramento City Teachers Association promised to bring the cash-strapped district about $48 million in savings this year, according to staff and the union.
- County officials blocked the deal, citing concerns about how the contract might help in the short term but hurt in the long run.
Sacramento City Unified School District leaders are seeking to overturn recent county-level interference in their financial recovery plan by appealing to the state superintendent.
Their challenge of county oversight enters the district into murky legal territory.
At least one statewide expert said California education code does not provide a viable pathway for school board members to contest the decision coming from a Sacramento County Office of Education fiscal advisor.
But representatives for the state department of education said there may be a basis for the challenge.
The Sacramento school district leaders have spent months doggedly trying to avoid a state bailout and the accompanying loss of local authority. Their ongoing dispute with the county office means testing a never-before-used provision of the law.
“We’re doing things differently and asking the questions,” board President Tara Jeane said Tuesday, “and seeing what our options are.”
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County, district back-and-forth
Sacramento City Unified is contending with a multimillion-dollar budget crisis. Last week, officials unveiled a blueprint they said would recover more than $135 million needed to get through the school year.
County Superintendent Dave Gordon, though, took issue with their plan, saying many line items were duplicative or too vague to implement. His biggest concern was a $48 million savings that resulted from shuffling which account would fund retired teachers’ health benefits.
A fiscal advisor, appointed by Gordon to monitor Sacramento City Unified, used her authority on Friday to rescind that deal between the district and the Sacramento City Teachers Association.
District leaders in turn scheduled a special meeting for Tuesday evening to discuss appealing that action. They argue that under one interpretation of state education code, state Superintendent Tony Thurmond has space to step in.
With little discussion and two members absent, the board unanimously approved Superintendent Cancy McArn sending Thurmond a letter of appeal. Jeane said the timeline for next steps remains unknown.
Fight for local control
Trustees for the school district are racing to right the ship so they can avoid having to ask the state for assistance.
An emergency loan from the Legislature would mean a loss of power for the local elected officials, something widely acknowledged as a worst-case scenario.
Under state receivership, school board members stay on as advisors with no authority. An outside administrator, picked by the county superintendent, would step in and become the de-facto decision-maker.
Mike Fine, CEO of Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, which advises money-troubled districts like Sacramento City Unified, said trustees’ reluctance to turn to the state is understandable.
But, Fine said, “From our standpoint, unless they’re going to hand us a reasonable list of actions … we would agree with the county’s assessment — the district’s in trouble.”
