Marin schools to receive state funding windfall
Marin County public schools are in line for a big boost in funding because of the $308 billion state budget signed Thursday by Gov. Gavin Newsom, officials said.
“I just can’t tell you how wonderful this news is,” Kate Lane, assistant superintendent in the Marin County Office of Education, said Friday. “It’s exceptionally good news for the schools in Marin.”
Lane said the county schools will receive “millions” more as the result of several factors.
The largest of those is a 13% increase in the amount of per-student subsidies for school districts that are state-funded. The increase will boost the per-student subsidy from around $10,000 to roughly $11,300.
The beneficiaries of the increase are state-funded districts are known as Local Control Funding Formula, or LCFF, districts. In Marin, those include two of the county’s largest school districts, the San Rafael Elementary District and the Novato Unified School District.
Although the exact amount of the subsidy increase was not yet available, Lane said it will be substantial. The San Rafael Elementary District has about 4,500 students, while the Novato district has about 7,000. In a rough estimate, multiplying the total of about 11,500 students by the $1,300 per-student increase comes to nearly $15 million.
The state is also granting districts leeway to use a more favorable option for reporting average daily attendance, or ADA. The state uses the figure to compute the amount of per-student subsidies.
The state is letting the districts compensate for a countywide and statewide loss in school enrollment of up to 8% during the pandemic, Lane said. Options being granted include being able to use the average of the last three years, she said.
“The state is now giving incredible protections against the decline in ADA,” Lane said. “That takes us back to pre-pandemic 2019-20.”
In addition, Marin districts that are basic aid, or “community funded” by local taxes, will benefit this year because of a 6% rise in property taxes in the county, Lane said.
Marin basic aid districts include Larkspur-Corte Madera, Reed Union, Mill Valley, Kentfield, the San Rafael High School District, Tamalpais Union, Miller Creek, Nicasio, Sausalito Marin City, Lagunitas, Bolinas-Stinson and Shoreline Unified.
“Whether they end up state-funded or basic aid, this is a very good news budget for our county,” Lane said.
For districts on the cusp between LCFF and basic aid, such as the Ross Valley School District, it is not yet clear what the extra money will do, Lane said. Ross Valley, until now an LCFF district, was expected to move to basic aid in the fall. Lane said that could change, or not.
“I haven’t yet gotten a final landing on that yet,” Lane said.
Mary Jane Burke, the Marin County superintendent of schools, said the state budget windfall and property tax increase might have an impact on some local programs.
“We won’t know for sure until Aug. 15,” she said.
The LCFF rate each year is based on the cost of living increase in the state, Lane said. This year it has been pegged at 6.56%, Lane said. The state budget boost is adding another 6.28% for per-student subsidies.
“Between those two, the COLA and the boost, it’s about a 13% increase to LCFF’s base rate,” Lane said.
Lane said the state budget windfall could improve California schools’ ranking nationwide in terms of money spent per student.
“We have been one of the most poorest-funded schools on a per-student basis,” she said. “We measure ourselves up against the rest of the nation — and this is going to move us up that listing.”