Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) runs the risk of being taken over by the state. The district had announced that it will run out of funding by November 2019.
According to the District’s official website, unless drastic spending cuts are made before June 2019 in order to balance its budget, there will be no other alternative but for the Sacramento County Office of Education to take over. This would be a quick solution but a slow recovery for the District to become independent once again.
When the state takes over, the local school board will appoint an administrator to overlook the district and make decisions on where funding should be cut and repay the money the state has loaned to the district.
County Superintendent David W. Gordon would be the one appointing the administrator. However, the administrator is not required to work with the school board nor the superintendent. Their main job and focus would be to solely focus on paying off the loan and getting the district back on its feet.
If this occurs, students, parents, and practically everyone else will have no say in what happens during this time within our schools. This recovery process would take up to 10 years or so before members of the community and parents of students would be able to regain a say in the District again.
“It was unfortunate that the District wasn’t able to manage their own funds. If it takes state intervention then let it happen. They shall reap what they sow,” said Julia Cheung (‘20).
SCUSD believes by having the state taking over it would cause a major negative impact on its students due to programs and services being cut in order to repay the debt.
The SCUSD official website stated, “Experts from FCMAT presented to the Sacramento City Unified Board of Education on December 13, 2018 and warned District leaders that a takeover would not be in the best interest of our students. FCMAT has encouraged the District and its labor partners to work together to identify the cost savings necessary to avoid a takeover.”
“A state takeover is not the best thing to happen. But the reality of this district is that it’s something that needs to happen. This district does not know how it got itself to the financial disaster that we have on our hands and I don’t have the confidence that this district will know how to get us out of this disaster. For the past 23 years that I have worked here, this district has always had financial issues and I think it’s just the culture of this district to not pay attention to its budget. So now, I think it’s time for the state to come in and to clean out the Serna Center and create a new culture there that is more responsive to the needs of students and less responsive to the salaries of administrators and others,” stated McClatchy social science teacher Tim Douglas.