By Keri Luiz
Assistant Editor

Crunch time has arrived at Benicia Unified School District, and Chief Business Official Tim Rahill will ask BUSD trustees Thursday to adopt the 2013-14 budget.

As the state finalizes its own budget, the fiscal picture of BUSD is coming into focus, Rahill wrote in a report to the board. Among the key items in the district’s budget:

• Most of the $33.9 million budget comes from the state of California. About $1.1 million would come from federal service sources, and $2.2 million would come from other local sources; much of the latter would come from special service funding.

• The district is still working under assumptions based on the May Revise Budget Workshop, in which case BUSD would operate at a $1.8 million loss for the 2013-14 school year. The loss would be covered by one-time reserves for this school year.

“This $1.8 million includes the salary costs of the negotiations with the certificated and classified employee unions and the management/confidential group,” Rahill wrote.

• A compromise over the State Funding Formula may benefit Benicia schools, Rahill wrote.

“Currently, the governor and state Legislature are working on a revised State Funding Formula for schools, and a compromise is most likely to be reached when a state budget is approved.”

This compromise formula appears likely to provide more funding to BUSD, “but we must wait to see a final version that is included in an approved state budget.”

Once the state approves a 2013-14 budget, the impact on the BUSD budget will be presented to the school board at the following school board meeting, Rahill wrote.

Also Thursday, Superintendent Janice Adams will ask the board to approve signing and supporting the Partner Pledge for the Bay Area Roadmap to Cut Poverty.

“A coalition of community partners has been working since 2011 to reduce poverty and grow prosperity in Solano County and the Bay Area region,” Adams wrote in a report to the board.

“The coalition is seeking partnerships with school districts to support efforts to reduce poverty.”

By becoming a Roadmap partner, school districts agree to being named and acknowledged publicly as a partner, participating in decision making about the Roadmap, and helping define success, Adams wrote. They also agree to participate in at least one Roadmap strategy.

In other business, Assistant Superintendent Dr. Michael Gardner will ask for approval of a new job description for the deputy superintendent.

“There currently is no specific deputy superintendent job description,” Gardner wrote in a report to the board. “This job description includes additional duties to be performed by the assistant superintendent of human resources.”

The current job description is insufficient to describe the necessary duties required for deputy superintendent, Garnder wrote. If the board passes this action item, Gardner’s new title and job description will be deputy superintendent.

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