About Budget and Finance

SCSD Budget

The fiscal year for the school district runs from July 1 to June 30 to roughly correspond with the school year.  Budgets are approved by the School Board by June 30th for the following fiscal year.  The budget is then revised twice during the year and referred to as the “First Interim” and “Second Interim” budgets.   These budgets, along with three-year financial projections, are sent to the San Mateo County Office of Education for acceptance and certification. The district must keep a reserve level of at least 3% of expenses.

School budgeting and accounting follows the requirements of governmental accounting. This necessitates the use of multiple funds with specific requirements for the categorization of revenue and expense, adding complexity to the district’s financial reports.  For recent financial documents, please click here.

California School Finance

The San Carlos School District is classified as a “Revenue Limit” or “Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF)” district, meaning that its base funding is determined by the State of California and is decoupled from local tax revenue (other than locally passed parcel taxes).  Beginning in the 2013-2014 school year, such districts are funded according to the Local Control Funding Formula, which specifies a base amount of funding per student, with additional grants for districts with high populations of children in poverty or who are English language learners.  In addition, the school district receives “categorical” funding for certain programs, the largest of which is for special education.  The district also receives funding from local sources, primarily donations by the San Carlos Education Foundation and locally passed parcel taxes.

Useful Links

EdSource (http://edsource.org) EdSource works to engage Californians on key education challenges with the goal of enhancing learning success

Ed-Data (http://www.ed-data.k12.ca.us/ ) provides demographic, accountability, and financial data for all school districts in the state

The Public Policy Institute of California (http://ppic.org/) provides information for framing policy debates in California. Their central audiences are California’s elected officials and engaged Californians.

The Legislative Analyst’s Office (http://lao.ca.gov/) The Legislative Analyst’s is known for its fiscal and programmatic expertise and nonpartisan analyses of the state budget.