The Stockton Unified School District is set to discuss an impressive billion-dollar budget proposal for the 2023-24 academic year at their upcoming board of trustees meeting on June 20.As the largest school district in Stockton, it is planning to allocate nearly $1.1 billion for the next fiscal year. The budget outlines provisions for the remaining $242 million from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds. These funds, allocated by the federal government, need to be spent by September 2024, prompting the school district to ensure most of it is utilized in the 2022-23 fiscal year to avoid returning the unspent amount.
However, the district's past financial reporting has been far from flawless. An October 2022 letter from County Superintendent of Schools Troy Brown expressed lost confidence in the accuracy of Stockton Unified’s budget due to repeated technical errors. The district has been grappling with budget fluctuations amounting to tens of millions, constantly switching between deficit and surplus spending.
Overseeing the development of the budget for the upcoming year is Joann Juarez, the district's interim chief business official. However, Juarez has already submitted her resignation earlier in the spring, casting uncertainty on the execution of the proposed budget plan.
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