The Abridged version:
- As the Sacramento City Unified School District contends with a multimillion-dollar budget crisis and possible state aid, city leaders are watching with worry from the sidelines.
- Among the list of concerns is that a poor school district reputation might dissuade new residents and families from settling in the area. Plus, education job losses that result from budget cuts and layoffs could hit the city hard.
- City officials have no jurisdiction when it comes to schools.
The Sacramento City Unified School District is careening towards insolvency, and city of Sacramento leaders are watching with worry from afar.
“Every city needs schools to work,” said Sacramento City Councilmember Phil Pluckebaum. “So, when the district starts really running up against the rocks like it is right now … Everyone’s worried.”
Sacramento City Unified has a multimillion-dollar budget crisis and its own staff predict the coffers could be empty by November. There is a real chance that the district will need an emergency loan from the state, and the strings that come with that relief, next school year.
Economists and housing experts assure that the district falling into receivership would not mean the sky falling on Sacramento. However, the ripple effects would be felt, they said, by district staff losing their jobs and homebuyers being dissuaded from settling in the capital city.
The structure of leadership in California means city council members and county supervisors do not have a role in running local school districts. That’s the responsibility of elected school board members and their appointed superintendent.
In the event of the district’s financial collapse and a state takeover, though, the fallout would be shared.
“For me,” said Sacramento City Councilmember Karina Talamantes, “it’s just waiting to see what kind of tough decisions the trustees at Sac City Unified School District will make and monitoring from afar.”
Fear factor for new residents
One concern, Talamantes said, is whether a floundering school district standing might give prospective homebuyers pause.
“Everything plays a factor in people’s decision for homeownership,” she said. “And if they feel like there’s instability in the city of Sacramento, it will absolutely impact us in attracting new residents.”
A poor reputation is “something you can’t sell around,” said Barry Broome, CEO of the Greater Sacramento Economic Council.
“We’re going to have to suck it up and support this school district,” Broome said.
District officials plan to ask residents to approve a new tax, increasing revenue for education. Broome, as a resident of the city and father of a McClatchy High School alumnus, said he will vote in favor.
Schools are a common consideration for homebuyers. And, local realtor Andy Thielen said, schools and school districts directly affect surrounding home values.
A school district that’s grappling with a nine-figure budget deficit and falling under state authority might dissuade some families from settling in Sacramento.
But, he said, “I don’t want to make it sound like if that happens, no one will want to live here.”
In Oakland’s experience
Matt Glaser said he and his wife moved to Oakland in 2019, when the Bay Area school district was 16 years into state receivership.
“We knew what we were getting into,” said the father of two elementary school students.
Oakland Unified came out on the other side of receivership last summer, after 22 years of outside overseers. The mood in the city, Glaser said, was celebratory.
Yet the district’s deeper issues, including leaders spending outside their means, went largely unaddressed, and Oakland Unified remained in a financially uncertain position.
“People should be less concerned about the short-term reputation hit,” Glaser said, “and more about long-term viability.”
Loss of employees
Job cuts are among the worst consequences of a financially struggling school district, said Lisa Grant-Dawson, interim chief business officer at Sacramento City Unified. Before joining the district, Grant-Dawson served in the same role for Oakland Unified.
When layoffs happen, ex-employees must scramble to find new sources of income.
And neighboring school districts, such as Elk Grove Unified or Natomas Unified, would likely not have enough job vacancies to absorb the fallout from Sacramento City, Grant-Dawson said.
“From a city perspective,” she said, “you do have the concern about people looking for work outside (the area).”
Separate jobs
City leaders are not stepping in to help with the school district’s situation — because it’s outside their jurisdiction.
“We just have to keep an eye on it,” Talamantes said. “The Sac City Unified School District has its own elected board that has a duty to pass the budget, to make their own decisions.”
“They’re their own elected officials, and we can’t direct them what to do,” she added.
Whereas in the past, prominent local leaders might informally engage with education officials, Pluckebaum said there is a more hands-off approach today.
The last to step over that bureaucratic gap, he said, was Joe Serna Jr., former Sacramento mayor and namesake of the school district’s central office building.
City and school leaders do often rub elbows at public events, Pluckebaum said, at which the interactions are much of the same.
“Mostly it’s like this: ‘Hey, how you doing? Are you okay? I’m praying for you,’” he said.
Savannah Kuchar is a reporter covering education. She came to Sacramento to be a part of the Abridged team and contribute to a crucial local news source.