Thursday’s school board meeting will be the last of the 2017-18 year while school is in session— and if the agenda is any indication, it will be the busiest of the entire year by far.

One of the biggest items is a public hearing on Benicia Unified School District’s proposed budget for the 2018-19 school year. Chief Business Official Tim Rahill predicts that the district will operate at a one-time surplus of $88,000— including costs of employee negotiations from the employees’ tentative agreements from 2017-18 and 2018-19— and provide for the state’s 3 percent Reserve for Economic Uncertainties and the Local Board Policy Reserve— which would provide an additional 4 percent reserve.

Additionally, Rahill wrote in a PowerPoint that BUSD continues to receive most of its fundings from the state, namely its Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) system. According to Rahill, the LCFF is fully funded in the budget and includes a funding reduction for 71 fewer students, annual increases in operating costs and program costs from the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP). The district is also anticipating a decline in 24 students for the 2018-19 school year.

Based on this as well as information in Gov. Jerry Brown’s May Revise Budget, Rahill wrote that the anticipated budget would provide for the state and local reserves, allowing the district to provide a positive certification of the 2018-19 budget. The public hearing will be open for comments, and the budget will go up for a vote at the June 14 school board meeting. If accepted, the budget financial report will be filed with the Solano County Office of Education and California Department of Education. Once the state approves the budget, the district will report back to the school board regarding impacts on the school budget.

The budget is far from the only item of note on the agenda. In other matters:

* The board will hold a public hearing on updates to the LCAP.

* The board will consider ratifying a tentative agreement between BUSD and the Benicia Teachers Association. The agreement is pending approval, and its contents have not been made available to the public.

* The board will consider ratifying a total compensation package between BUSD and the confidential/management team.

* The board will vote to award the contracts for Mary Farmar and Robert Semple Elementary’s fire alarm upgrades to the lowest responsive bidder, which in both cases is Vander Bos Electric in Roseville.

* The board will consider approving course outlines for advanced construction technology and Advanced Placement French at Benicia High School.

* The board will consider approving a resolution specifying the election order for the school board election. Three seats— those of Diane Ferrucci, Celeste Monnette and Peter Morgan— are up for re-election.

The board will meet at 7 p.m., Thursday, May 31 in the Benicia Unified School District Board Room at the district building on 350 East K Street. There will be an earlier closed session at 5:30 p.m.

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