The Rancho Santa Fe School District board approved the 2024-25 school year budget on June 25 with a projected deficit of $232,442. While cautioning about potential challenges ahead, the district’s Director Allison Oppeltz said there are some “fun and exciting things” for students included in the budget this coming year.
Included in the budget is the rollout of the new Leader in Me program, a social and emotional learning program based on the principles in Stephen Covey’s bestselling book, “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”. The program aims to help improve leadership skills, academic achievement and student behavior.
Expenditures also include a new math curriculum alignment and new fourth grade band and orchestra program with instruments funded through Prop 28, the state’s Arts and Music in Schools initiative that provides additional funding for arts education. There are also new programs in middle school with electives such as medical detectives, green architecture, flight/space technology, photography, design and modeling. Even though the trips are funded by parents, the district will also pay teacher stipends for new educational travel experiences for students to Sacramento and Washington D.C.
On the revenue side, the district continues to benefit from strong property taxes.
The Rancho Santa Fe Education Foundation is the district’s second-largest funding source, committed to an annual $1.1 million contribution. Oppeltz said the foundation did not make their goal this year with their annual donation ask of parents but they did have a “blockbuster” art auction, which raised over $400,000. The foundation was about $100,000 short of their $1.1 million and was able to supplement the amount through their longterm endowment fund.
Oppeltz said with declining enrollment, fundraising may be even more difficult and looking ahead to multi-year budget projections with continued deficit spending, it shows how valuable the foundation’s contribution is: “Every kid is benefitting from that $1.1 million.”
At the June 25 meeting, the board opted to wait on a decision to hire an additional certificated teacher for the coming school year. Considering enrollment has dropped from 550 to 483 students, Vice President Rosemarie Rohatgi was concerned about being overstaffed and the majority of the board wanted to wait for new Superintendent Kim Pinkerton to review staffing needs. The board also decided to wait to approve new student data software until Pinkerton could weigh in.
As part of personnel decisions, the board approved a $9,000 stipend for Assistant Principal Bari Fox to serve as the athletic director in 2024-25. According to Oppeltz, Rancho Santa Fe provides the highest athletic stipend in the county for public schools, more than neighboring San Dieguito district’s $7,200 for the high school role. The vote was 3-1 with Rohatgi opposed as she again wanted the new superintendent’s review.