West Contra Costa school district officials respond to take over of budget by county Office of Ed

“The school district has shown, repeatedly, that it is unwilling or unable to balance and focus its budget.” – Area 3 Trustee Mister Phillips

“We’re in a budget crisis. I’m no longer rubber-stamping things that should be investigated.” Area 5 Trustee Leslie Reckler

Staff will work “collaboratively” with district, community leaders and “alongside Contra Costa County Office of Education” – Assoc. Superintendent Dr. Kim Moses

By Allen D. Payton

In response to the Thursday article from EdSource.org republished by the Herald on Friday, regarding the takeover of the West Contra Costa Unified School District budget by the county Office of Education, due to the failure to pass their Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) budget, WCCUSD board members and staff shared their thoughts, concerns and plans.

As previously reported, WCCUSD may be on the verge of turning over control of its budget and day-to-day running of the district to the county after the school board rejected the district’s Local Control Accountability Plan on Wednesday night, limiting the chance of passing a 2024-25 district budget by July 1, as required by state law.

Without passing an LCAP — a document that sets district goals to improve student outcomes and how to achieve them — the board cannot vote on the proposed budget, said Dr. Kim Moses, associate superintendent of business services at West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD). The two are linked; the LCAP is a portion of the budget and gives the district a road map on how to allocate funding for its $484 million budget. The district risks losing local control over funding decisions. Trustees voting no said it didn’t reflect priorities of the community and was not transparent.

The vote on the LCAP failed 1-2-1 with Board President and Area 1 Trustee Jamela Smith-Folds voting in favor, Area 3 Trustee Mister Phillips and Area 5 Trustee Leslie Reckler voting against, and Area 2 Trustee Otheree Christian voting to abstain. Board Clerk and Area 4 Trustee Demetrio Gonzalez Hoy was absent.

An email was sent Friday afternoon, June 28, 2024, to all five WCCUSD board members and Superintendent Dr. Chris Hurst. But Hurst is out of the office until July 12, so the question was then sent to Associate Superintendent of Business Services, Dr. Kim Moses. He later forwarded the email to Raechelle Forrest, Director of Communications for the District. They were asked what the board and district will do by this Sunday to avoid the takeover. Calls were also made to each board member.

“I’m waiting to hear from the board president. Because the president is the only one who can call a meeting, said Christian.

Phillips responded, “First, the county Office of Education will not take over the school district. The county office will create a budget for the school district with the school district’s input. Second, I think that is best for the school district. The school district has shown, repeatedly, that it is unwilling or unable to balance and focus its budget.”

“Now, we have a chance at a balanced and focused budget that prioritizes the school district’s strategic plan,” he continued. “That is what we need, and I do not mind working with the county office to get it.”

“As far as I am concerned, the county office is part of local control,” Phillips added.

When asked if a special board meeting would be called, Reckler said, “I don’t have any knowledge of a board meeting, as of now.” But she believes a special board meeting doesn’t require the president to call one and can be called by two members.

“It’s not something I’m going to do,” she added.

Asked about not approving the LCAP Reckler said, “It’s certainly not ideal. I wish we could have done it ourselves. But I needed to send a strong message.”

“It’s been a long-standing concern of mine, the transparency about the LCAP,” she continued. “There are different parts of the budget including the LCAP designated for English-language learners, although districts have wide latitude in how they spend those funds. I’ve been deeply concerned over information we get back on how the programs are working.”

“We’re in a budget crisis” Reckler stated. “I’m no longer rubber-stamping things that should be investigated in this crisis. Is it ideal? No. Am I proud of it? Not really. I’m very thoughtful in my decisions and I needed to put my foot down.”

She later shared, “I looked up the ability to call a meeting. Ed Code 54956 says that the president or a majority of the board can call for a meeting. So, for the WCCUSD, it would be three members.”

On Thursday she posted a statement about the matter her official Facebook page. But first, Reckler wrote, “Last night’s meeting was a memorable one and probably a first.

The LCAP portion of 2024-2025 budget failed to pass. Because the LCAP failed to pass, the 2024-25 site plans and the 2024-2025 budget could not be considered. I voted No, and it is important for you to know why. I have a fiduciary and accountability responsibility, and in these extremely lean fiscal times, I will not vote in the affirmative on a $64.8 million dollar plan that is not transparent to me and to the general public.

Voting NO on the LCAP was not something that I took lightly at all. But after years of asking for changes in how information is presented to me, I am no longer rubber stamping this work.

Thank you to the LCAP committee (past and present) for years of raising issues with the process and the final result.

The Contra Costa County Office of Education will advise further on what will happen next with the budget. I will keep you posted on upcoming information as I receive it.”

Here is the video from the June 12th meeting LCAP public hearing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UzHxtXawu4 3-hour, 5-minute mark. There are also several comments about the LCAP in public comment at the 28 minute mark.

Here is the Board’s agenda from the June 12th LCAP public hearing meeting.

https://simbli.eboardsolutions.com/…/ViewMeeting.aspx…

When the video is posted for the June 26th meeting, I will post that as well.

My comment on the LCAP from June 26, 2024 meeting is below.

(I may have made some changes on the fly while speaking.)”

Reckler Statement on LCAP Vote

“For the past two years and now this year, making it three years, I find myself making the same comments about the LCAP. That is, the presentations concentrate heavily on state required compliance metrics and do not succinctly show how the programs in the LCAP performed, how money was spent, and how the community’s feedback was incorporated into the plan.

To me, there are three parts to this:

Money, program success and community engagement reflected In the plan.

First, money.

How much money did you get this year and how much money did you get last year and what is the difference? How much carryover do you have and why? Then, where did you miss on big dollars – either wildly overspending or underspending and why?

Second, how did your programs perform?

What programs did you hit, what programs did you miss and what programs don’t you know the answer to and why, and for the programs that you don’t know. What can you guestimate? For all of these metrics, what’s the reasoning that there were successes or misses.

Then, what are you changing in the LCAP and why along with the corresponding dollars.

Finally, community engagement. What feedback did the LCAP committee give you and how did you incorporate it? I think there are only five LCAP members. We used to have a robust, messy, beautifully engaged LCAP committee of probably 30 members and we were feeling heard.

While I value deeply the work of staff, and I do recognize the pressures that you are under, I am frustrated that I have to spend an entire weekend trying to figure out the changes in the LCAP. It should be self-evident.

This new, three-year LCAP seems to have collapsed so many categories into big buckets that it will make it hard to track any success metrics over the next three years. To me, this document seems less transparent than ever before.

I don’t know how else to get your attention, and I will not be held hostage. For all of these reasons, I’ll be voting No.”

District Will Work “Collaboratively” With District, Community Leaders and “Alongside CCC Office of Education

Associate Superintendent Moses, the District’s Chief Business Officer, responded with the following:

“The West Contra Costa Unified School District is dedicated to working collaboratively with district and community leaders to address the expressed concerns related to the 2024-25 LCAP adoption.  District leaders are working alongside the Contra Costa County Office of Education to ensure that the concerns related to the LCAP plan are addressed as quickly as possible.  Unfortunately, this will not occur before the July 1 deadline for adoption.

“West Contra Costa Unified School District is not subject to losing local control of our budgetary functions as a result of the recent inaction by the Board.  We must now revert to the last board-adopted budget which is the 2023-24 third interim budget, adopted on May 29, 2024.  However, without an adopted LCAP plan, we must exclude the LCAP Supplemental/Concentration funding from our current budget.

“If an LCAP plan and budget are not adopted by August 15th, the Contra Costa County Office of Education may impose a budget for our district’s use.  In the interim, WCCUSD will be able to continue processing payroll without interruptions and we will be able to maintain all expenses related to the general operating costs within the district, such as utilities, required materials and supplies, and other operational necessities. Throughout this process, the WCCUSD business services team is dedicated to managing this budget transition while continuing a high level of service for our students, staff, and schools.”