FCMAT: New Report Highlights OUSD’s Extensive Budget Issues
Need a crystal clear call to action for addressing OUSD’s budget problems?
“The district should take immediate action to avoid further erosion of the district’s reserve levels and possible fiscal emergency.” -FCMAT, 2017
It does not get any clearer.
Last week, an outside state government agency – Fiscal Crisis Management & Assistance Team (“FCMAT”) – issued a scathing report on OUSD’s budget challenges. The line above is the last line of that report. Click here to read it. The report’s authors will present the findings to the Board of Education tonight.
The report tells us that if OUSD does not change, it could have a fiscal emergency and go back into state receivership. State receivership almost certainly means drastic education cuts in pursuit of fiscal solvency – school closures, program cuts and other changes – without any say from the community.
With the leadership of Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell comes new opportunity—and we are hopeful. However, our community will need to give OUSD the support, space, and input they need to make some very tough decisions around schools and programs.
With a crystal clear call to action comes the responsibility to act. Look for further comment and analysis from GO in the coming weeks as we make sense of the challenges and opportunities this report presents. In the meantime, we appreciate the Board of Education for commissioning this study and call on them to lead us through the urgent and necessary decisions ahead with students’ interests at the center.
