County: Sweetwater school district’s projected budget deficit rises again

Sweetwater Union High School District may have to make budget cuts of up to $36 million for next school year in order to make ends meet, according to recent calculations by county officials.

That’s $12 million more than Sweetwater officials projected in October and $27 million more than the officials projected in June.

Sweetwater originally thought it would have to make about $9 million in cuts next school year.

Sweetwater is the state’s largest high-school-only district and enrolls roughly 39,000 students. It has a total budget of approximately $479 million.

The district recently drew controversy for budget cuts that took away bus transportation from some students at San Ysidro High, where about 80 percent of students are socioeconomically disadvantaged.

Sweetwater is currently being audited by a state fiscal agency for potential financial fraud. The state agency has said the district for years had misrepresented its finances and spent more money than it has.

Sweetwater was required to make a revised current-year budget by October after the county office said its original budget contained several inaccuracies.

In a letter sent to Sweetwater last week, San Diego County Deputy Superintendent Mike Simonson said he is putting a seal of approval on the revised version of Sweetwater’s current-year budget.

But Simonson says the county office will impose budget changes on Sweetwater to correct inaccuracies the county office has found.

For example, Sweetwater did not account for another $1.2 million in borrowing interest that was due last school year to its own Mello-Roos fund, or special facilities tax fund, according to Simonson’s letter. The district owes another $419,000 in interest to the county treasury for another loan.

The county also projects that Sweetwater will outspend its budget for salaries and benefits by about $3 million.

On top of that, Sweetwater built about $4 million of savings into its current-year budget, but those savings will only materialize if all of its unions agree to take two furlough days. Those negotiations have not been finalized, according to the county office.

Those are some of the reasons why the county says Sweetwater might have to make $12 million more in cuts than Sweetwater projected in October.

Sweetwater spokesman Manny Rubio said Tuesday that the district is considering appealing the imposed budget changes the county office wants to make. The appeal would be made to the state superintendent.

Rubio said the district believes parts of Simonson’s letter were based off inaccurate information. The district also believes the imposed budget changes would not be “in the financial interest of the district.”

Rubio also said Sweetwater already has been working on addressing the issues outlined in Simonson’s most recent letter.

“The district has had a plan in place for some time and we are continuing along that path that has resulted in an approved budget by [the county office],” Rubio said. “We will continue to move forward to ensure the financial stability of the district.”

Rubio said the district plans to pay off its debt to its Mello-Roos fund, debt it expects to eliminate this school year.

While budget projections naturally change throughout the year as new financial information is finalized — such as how much funding the state will give school districts — Simonson said recent inaccuracies in Sweetwater’s budget include issues that he told Sweetwater about earlier this summer and issues that Sweetwater should have known about months ago.

“It’s extremely important that the assumptions you build into a budget are accurate,” Simonson said.