Sacramento City Unified board approves revised fiscal solvency plan, pauses proposed furloughs

The Sacramento City Unified School District board on Feb. 11 approved a revised fiscal solvency plan and authorized staff to submit the district’s response to the County Office of Education, while agreeing not to implement proposed furlough days or reassign administrators to classrooms for now.

Interim Superintendent McCarran told the board that staff had found formula and projection issues in the first‑interim cash‑flow workbook, revised the calculations and now project roughly $3 million in cash at the end of June rather than a previously reported negative balance. "We are spending more than we earn and if we continue this trend, we'll run out of cash," she said, summarizing why the district is pursuing the fiscal solvency plan.

The revised plan lists a suite of budget‑balancing strategies and a "thermometer" goal. Staff said the plan currently identifies about $43.8 million of implementable options toward the district's objective (roughly 39% of the goal as presented). Items described as part of the plan include a temporary freeze on nonessential supply purchases (an estimated $2.3 million in unspent supply budgets) assigned to a restricted object code to prevent site use and improve cash projections.

Board members pressed staff for clarity on which funds and employee groups would actually yield general‑fund savings. Interim Chief Business Officer Grant Dawson told the board that many of the positions targeted in some furlough drafts are paid from restricted sources; furloughing staff paid from restricted grants would not produce the unrestricted general‑fund savings the plan seeks. The board asked staff to continue refining the list and to present monthly updates.

Several trustees said they supported moving away from broad emergency measures toward more surgical, analyzed reductions. "We want the scalpel, not the hammer," one member said, urging implementation only after staff demonstrates legal and operational feasibility and honors collective bargaining agreements. The board discussed but declined to vote to unfreeze the deputy chief of schools position related to an attorney‑general settlement; that hiring decision remained on the table for a future meeting.

The board recorded aye votes from the student board member and board members Jean, Callata, Benjamin, Rose, Singh and Ibarra; the motion to approve the revised materials and submit the county response carried. Staff said the updated presentation and a "thermometer" graphic would be posted to the district website and that monthly cash‑flow updates will continue.

What happens next: staff will submit the approved response to the County Office of Education and return to the board with ongoing monthly updates to the cash‑flow projection and further refinements to the fiscal solvency strategies, including any legally required steps if changes to collective‑bargaining‑covered roles are proposed.