27 Mar WCCUSD Superintendent Tells Richmond Council Union Budget Claims Are Untrue

“This narrative that we’re overprojecting and padding the budget, it simply isn’t true,” interim West Contra Costa schools superintendent Kim Moses told Richmond City Council on Tuesday. (Screenshot captured by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)

To union leaders, millions in cuts to West Contra Costa Unified are part of a “manufactured fiscal crisis.” Students, dozens of whom walked out earlier this month in protest, say those cuts aren’t the answer to the district’s budget problems. 

Interim Superintendent Kim Moses sees it differently. 

A month after leaders from the United Teachers of Richmond asked the Richmond City Council to look into WCCUSD’s finances, Moses is pushing back on claims that the district is mismanaging its finances.

“This narrative that we’re overprojecting and padding the budget, it simply isn’t true,” she told council members at Tuesday’s meeting. 

The district, which is largely made up of Richmond students, approved cutting $13 million from its budget as part of a multi-year plan to retain local control of its finances. Those cuts were in addition to the $19 million in cuts from this school year’s budget and drew criticism from UTR and other community members.

UTR and some students say those cuts are unnecessary because of the amount of money — more than $160 million, according to the union — in the district’s reserves that could be used to pay for teacher salaries.

Since February, Moses has said money in reserves does not reach that amount and will nearly be depleted to meet the budget reduction plan. 

Moses said the other option the union suggests is using money from the district’s restricted fund to pay salaries. But that balance, which Moses said is “very healthy,” cannot be used for regular classroom teacher salaries. 

“Every one of these restricted resources has a purpose related to expending, and it cannot be added to any negotiated agreement or to any of the operating expenses of our day to day operations of the district,” she said. 

WCCUSD’s restricted money included funding special education, mental health services, expanded learning opportunities and literacy coaches for the 2023-24 year. 

The school board approved 68 layoffs, according to UTR executive director Mark Mitchell, but only up to eight educators have since been notified of potentially being laid off. 

“Richmond schools are currently unstaffable,” said Mitchell. “They’re being made more unstable every day by management decisions that, frankly, we find puzzling. We’re not sure what’s going on.” 

The cuts are due to a structural deficit the district says it has as the result of declining enrollment and average daily attendance, which partly fund districts, expiring one-time COVID funding and increasing costs. 

But Mitchell said the decline in ADA is manageable and the district “can handle it without calamity.” 

Like other California school districts, WCCUSD has faced challenges in reaching the same level of student attendance before COVID. The district has launched an attendance campaign that includes improving accountability and strengthening partnerships with families and communities. 

“One of the biggest causes of truancy is the staff vacancy crisis,” said Sam Cleare, a teacher at Stege Elementary School for over seven years. “Parents called the students’ educational experience ‘musical chairs’ due to the dysfunction and disrespect.” 

Nearly 45% of Richmond students in the district are chronically absent, according to data Moses presented. 

“Do you ever worry that this is a race to the bottom?” council member Doria Robinson asked Moses of the cuts. “Like you’re just going to keep cutting until there’s nothing left?” 

Following UTR’s February presentation to Richmond officials, council member Sue Wilson said she contacted the Contra Costa County Superintendent of Schools about claims of the district overestimating expenses and underestimating revenues. 

In the last four years, “we noticed the district ends each year with more revenue than initially projected than when the budget was adopted, indicating a tendency to overestimate expenses,” Mackey said, according to Wilson. 

“We don’t have all of the information initially; we have to project,” said Moses. “Combining the (restricted and unrestricted funds) creates this narrative that money is being held back.” 

Moses and Richmond officials did agree that more collaboration between the two was needed to support Richmond students. 

“I’m sitting here listening to the stats tonight, thinking about how we have such a responsibility to the kids that are born and raised here, who need an education that’s going to lead to the futures they’re hoping for,” said Robinson. “How many years do you keep saying the same thing before people give up hope in the institution?” 

The West Contra Costa school board received an update on enrollment, attendance and its second interim budget at its meeting Wednesday. 

The next Richmond City Council meeting is on April 1.