Protecting Moraga Funding
a message from the superintendent![]()
Dear Moraga Community,
Those of you who know me have come to know that I try to speak honestly, directly, and from the heart. The main topic that I want to discuss is the one on all of our minds: budget. Over the next several months, this will be the priority for me and I will be focused on doing everything in my power to be transparent and communicative about the current state of our budget and the revenue crisis that we are facing. I want to be explicitly clear - the issue is a revenue issue. We do not receive enough state funding to sustain our programming. Full stop. In fact, Moraga is in the lowest 1/2 of 1% of districts for per pupil funding in the state - that means we are ranked 902nd out of 905 school districts in per pupil funding. This is a sobering and alarming statistic.
I want to assure you that I am working to do something about this at a systems level - I am meeting with a group of district leaders in our area whose districts also fall in this category, I am speaking at events like the annual PTA Advocacy Day about this, and I participate in the California School Board Association’s Small School District Council to advocate for changes. But, the reality remains that we may not be able to impact this issue in time to solve our current budget gap. As a result, our Governing Board has been exploring a parcel tax to fill the gap in revenue and allow us to continue to offer programming for our students by the highly qualified staff that we have.
Last month, the Governing Board considered results from local polling for a parcel tax. The situation is not ideal. Polling fell short of the ⅔ majority that we need to pass a parcel tax. They will be considering this topic again at our February 10th meeting and ultimately deciding on a parcel tax for the June general elections by the end of February.
In the interim, we have to prepare for the worst - funding that remains flat while expenses for operational needs (electricity, water, subscriptions to curriculum and technology) and staff (salaries and benefits) continue to increase annually. I want you to know this because I acknowledge, and feel myself, the trauma that budget cuts bring to our community. To be clear, there are no cuts that will not be felt deeply in our district. We have had four meetings of the Budget Advisory Committee this year to discuss potential cuts and try to collaborate on how to make reductions in our already skinny budget. Over the next month, we will continue to listen to feedback and think creatively and critically about these cuts. But cuts are not a long term solution. The long term solution is additional funding that can actually support the excellent programming that we have.
The graphic below gives a little framework for our revenue crisis and puts this into perspective. Our Moraga students and staff deserve funding that matches the excellence that we deliver.
