(KRON) — The Alameda County Superintendent of Schools says Oakland’s school board is not properly dealing with its budget crisis, and says it remains unclear if the district will be able to continue paying its bills this year — and the next two years.
In a letter of “concern” to the Oakland Unified School District board, county superintendent Elysse Castro said making a series of cuts is not the same thing is developing a plan to stay solvent.
“What is not typical — and is driving current concern — is how incomplete OUSD’s financial picture remains at this stage,” Castro wrote. “While the board has made meaningful progress on many fronts, it has also continued a pattern of changing direction and postponing difficult decisions.”
School board member Mike Hutchinson, who frequently finds himself outvoted by the board majority, agrees. “Currently, the Oakland school board and the superintendent are mismanaging the district’s finances,” he said. “We were originally given a date of October 8 to develop a fiscal solvency plan, here we are at the end of April, and we still don’t have one. If you don’t have a plan there is no way to address these budgetary shortfalls,” Hutchinson said.
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But OUSD board president Jennifer Brouhard says the board has adopted the framework of a plan and is already making cuts. She says she is confident the district can remain solvent, and the county and state will not have to take control over OUSD.
“We are addressing those concerns throughout this process,” Brouhard said. “What we will end up with is a budget that people can understand, a transparent budget, a budget that’s, you know, efficient, that supports the needs of our students.”
The county superintendent has directed the school district to calculate and turn over a variety of fiscal information before the end of the month. It’s unclear if that information will be provided in time.
The Oakland Unified School District must present a balanced budget by the end of June, or risk another state and county takeover.