The Abridged version:
- Sacramento City Unified School board members say they are frustrated by a “backwards” contracting system they believe is usurping their authority.
- District staff say the millions in “unauthorized contracts” are not the result of noncompliance but a disconnect between a lengthy review process and the immediate needs of students.
- The special education department is responsible for the majority of these unapproved expenditures.
Sacramento City Unified School board members say they are frustrated by millions of dollars in unauthorized spending, much of it on special education, that has been at the forefront of the district’s ongoing budget woes.
One board member said the process of spending on vendors without proper authorization is “completely backwards.”
Janea Marking, chief business and operations officer for the district, told the board Thursday that teachers and other staff have made significant reforms in recent years, but the process still needs improvement.
“No system is perfect,” Marking said. “However, in my experience having been in several districts — both large, urban and small, rural and in between — I’ve never seen it to this extent.”
What are unauthorized contracts?
As Sacramento City Unified grapples with a $43 million shortfall and grim financial projections, unauthorized contracts have come under increased scrutiny.
The term is given to agreements with outside vendors or contractors, made without first satisfying each step in the contract process, Marking explained.
During the 2024-25 school year, unauthorized contracts across Sacramento City Unified totaled $62 million worth of spending. The special education department represented 98% of those purchases.
But Marking, who appeared at Thursday evening’s board meeting to give a special presentation on the topic, said the issue is not the product of reckless noncompliance.
“It’s not about special education not wanting to follow the process,” Marking told Abridged. “They work really, really hard to follow the process.”
“Sometimes,” she added, “they’re making a decision that’s, ‘we’re going to take care of the kid first, and then we’re going to work on the paperwork.’”
Needs of the student come first
When students’ needs are identified, the district is legally required to provide services and accommodations, said Becky Bryant, assistant superintendent of special education, innovation and learning.
Bryant appeared alongside Marking and Cindy Tao, assistant superintendent of business services, before the school board Thursday.
Bryant offered a hypothetical example of a third-grade student assessed and determined to be eligible for six critical services, including occupational therapy and a one-to-one aide.
Those services must be rendered “without undue delays” under federal law, Bryant said. But that immediacy can sometimes conflict with the longer, often monthslong process of obtaining district approval.
“Again, it’s not about skirting compliance,” Marking said. “It’s just about, sometimes there is a need for services ahead of being able to put the paperwork in place.”
Bryant said many contracts flagged as unauthorized are made with vendors with whom the district regularly does business. And, she said, the department has already factored most of these costs in when designing their budget.
Budget crisis raises concerns about surprise costs
Thursday’s presentation came at the request of Sacramento City Unified board member Taylor Kayatta.
Approving unauthorized contracts are a staple agenda item in the district’s biweekly board meetings. For example, the board was asked at the Oct. 2 meeting to approve a $14,000 unauthorized invoice, after the original request “was not processed properly at the time it was received,” according to agenda documents.
Kayatta pushed back.
“Instead of fixing our system, we’ve continued to kick the can down the road,” Kayatta said. “Then staff come and ask us to retroactively bless this overspending. To me this is unacceptable.”
A September report found the district spent $43 million more than expected last school year (Sacramento City Unified had about $850 million in total expenditures that year). An element of these surprise costs, according to Tao, were unauthorized contracts.
That discovery came as the district was already facing financial insolvency.
Recent projections show Sacramento City Unified with a $45 million deficit by spring, putting the district at risk of county and state intervention.
Board members call for better practice
Board member Chinua Rhodes criticized the unauthorized contract process as usurping the board.
“We are the authority,” Rhodes said. “And if the staff can come here and say, ‘These things bypass your authority,’ well dammit we need to change that.”
Fellow board member Tara Jeane expressed a similar concern, telling Marking she felt unauthorized contracts take real choice away from leadership.
“As a board (member), I don’t feel like I’m allowed to say no to these unauthorized things because they’ve already been decided as important, and that feels completely backwards,” Jeane said. “That has to change.”
Cause and effect of unauthorized contracts
The special education department heavily uses outside contractors, Bryant said, because there are a variety of student services needed districtwide and a high number of vacancies in special education positions.
Marking said that while these costs contributed to the district’s surprise spending amount, they are far from the only reason for current financial instability. Other factors include late invoices, overtime payments and increased salary costs from recently settled labor negotiations.
“My recommendation is for everyone to look in their own backyard,” Marking told the board. “Not to point out undesirables over their neighbors’ fences.”
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.