Hayward, Oakland school districts are dealing with staggering deficits
Pending budget cuts, Hayward is projected to run out of cash to meet payroll in May or June; Oakland's cash flow is estimated dry up by November
☕️MORNING BUZZ
HAYWARD USD
—FAILING GRADE—As part of a fiscal solvency plan to stave off state receivership, the Hayward Unified School District is proposing to layoff up to 107 full-time equivalent positions.
—The proposed cuts make up $16.9 million of the school district’s staggering $54 million budget deficit.
—The school board must approve the fiscal solvency plan presented to them at Wednesday night’s roughly six-hour meeting before a deadline of Feb. 28.
—The school district’s cash flow issues are dire. “If we do not take action we will be looking at issues with paying our bills,” Hayward Unified School District Superintendent Jason Reimann said on Wednesday night.
—Ninety-one percent of the school district’s unrestricted budget goes to staffing and benefits.
—The state’s Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, brought in by the county, found the Hayward school district is at “high risk for fiscal insolvency.”
—A review of the distict’s financial dilemma and found the school district’s staffing costs were not accurately reflected in its budget and payroll. In addition, internal controls were deficient in accounts receivable, payroll, and human resources.
—Some of the budget cuts included in the fiscal solvency plan:
$16.9 million savings from layoffs
$14.7 million in funding shifts
$8.3 million budget adjustments
$5.3 supplies/services
$5 million FY2025-26 one-time solutions
—Among the one-time solutions could be furloughs that would need to be negotiated with its bargaining groups, Reimann said, in addition to reductions in overtime and stipends.
—Peter Bufete, president of the Hayward school board, was torn between the need to right the district’s fiscal ship and keeping people in their jobs. “I didn’t sign on for this position to lay people off,” he said. “I signed up to make sure we put our district in a good position for the future. I signed up to make sure we are solvent.”
—The reasons for the Hayward school district’s fiscal problems are not entirely unique. Around 2,500 students have left the district since 2018. The exhaustion of COVID funding and increases in student needs has also forced the district to rely heavily on deficit spending.
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OAKLAND USD
—BROAKLAND—Oakland school officials are also in the same predicament as Hayward. On Wednesday night, the Oakland school board created an advisory team to figure out how to avoid the specter of fiscal insolvency.
—The Oakland school board declared a negative self-certification of its budget last month, an official acknowledgment the district is likely to run out of cash sometime in November.
—Oakland Unified has a $152 million operating budget shortfall for the current fiscal year.
—The state Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team found oversight of the Oakland school district was riddled with “operational dysfunction.”
—“A key example is the district’s failure to develop and implement a coherent fiscal solvency plan,” according to its report last month.
—The Alameda County Board of Education appointed a fiscal advisor to the school district, which was previously assigned a fiscal trustee, making Oakland Unified the only school district in the state to have both.
—F.U.SD—Fremont Superintendent Erik Burmeister abruptly resigned on Wednesday, effective immediately. He had served as superintendent since July 2024
—Wednesday’s closed session included an agenda item on Burmeister’s employee performance evaluation.
CITY NEWS
OAKLAND
—FIRESIDE CHAT—A proposal to reopen four Oakland fire stations will be heard at the city council’s March 4 meeting.
—Oakland Councilmembers Janani Ramachandran, Rebecca Kaplan, and Zac Unger say they have identified $1.8 million in funding from various sources in the city budget to reopen two previously closed fire stations, along with four other slated for closure as part of the administration’s contingency budget.
—Ramachandran told the Oakland City Council Rules Committee on Thursday morning that the public is demanding the fire stations be reopened. “This is about protecting and saving lives,” she said. “This is the bread of butter of what cities should be focusing on.”
—A contentious debate about the sources of the funding is not expected, Ramachandran said. She later added that none of the money was shifted from grants to Oakland non-profits.
—Councilmember Carroll Fife, who voted for a version of the year-end budget proposal that would have kept the fire stations open (Ramachandran did not), was skeptical, expressing concerns about how the proposal impacts the city and its labor partners.
—“I don’t think it’s prudent for us to move in this way without everyone weighing in at the table and how this will impact the entire city of Oakland,” Fife said.
—Ramachandran initially pushed for the legislation to be heard at the Feb. 18 council meeting. But the city administrator’s office balked at the quick turnaround time, asserting the councilmembers’ proposal was only received on Wednesday. Ramachandran disagreed with the timing, saying their budget spreadsheet was sent earlier this week.
FREMONT
—GIMME HOMELESS SHELTERS—There’s a growing shift in how Bay Area cities house the homeless in an efficient manner. A focus on affordable housing is beginning to give way to the building of shelters.
—“For the past decade, we have not been prioritizing shelters. We have been told that we should only be building affordable housing,” Fremont Mayor Raj Salwan said at the conclusion of Tuesday night’s approval of a camping ban ordinance.
—San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan has made similar comments about the efficacy of expensive and time-consuming affordable housing units over quicker, more economical fixes like homeless shelters.
—“It takes at least three years to build, and we’re told that we have these encampments, leave them where they’re at, but wait three years for a $1 million affordable housing unit,” Salwan said.
—“What are we doing for those people? Why are we not building shelters for the folks that are out on the streets? If we don’t have adequate shelter for our community, we cannot help them get balance, to get the services they need.”
CAMPAIGN FINANCE
—💰MONEYBALL—Form 497 large campaign contributions filed on Feb. 13:
OAKLAND SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 2 ELECTION
—Kara Murray Badal for Oakland City Council 2025, SEIU Local 1021 Candidate PAC, $1,200. TOTAL: $1,200.
