Gustine Unified School District Board of Trustees approved the 2024-25 district audit during last Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting. Linda Levesque, the district’s interim chief business officer, presented the audit findings to the board.

Unreported spending and not meeting required allocation funding for teachers were among the topics discussed.  

Some of the checks from the associated student body weren’t deposited and later voided, Levesque said. She added that the district should’ve written new checks instead. There were uncleared transactions that were on Gustine High’s financial records, according to a powerpoint presentation. It was recommended that the district should consistently look at the student body on a monthly basis and explain any unclear items. 

In the 2024-25 fiscal year, GUSD appropriated 53.22% of its expenses to teacher salaries. According to California Education Code Section 41372, 55% of a unified school district’s current expenses have to be allocated towards teacher’s salaries. The district’s expenses accumulated to $29.8 million with $15.8 million allotted to teacher’s salary and benefits, according to the powerpoint presentation. This left $530,651 unallocated for the required percentage.

“We were required to meet the 55%, we met 53.22%,” Levesque said. “We’ll see what we can possibly try to mitigate at this point.”

GUSD generated $37.7 million in revenue but spent $41 million last year, which left the district with a $3.32 million deficit. Staff salaries were the biggest contributor at $17.7 million.  

Levesque mentioned economic and fiscal factors such as changes to state and federal reserves, high pension obligations and declining enrollment. Since 2017-18, enrollment has declined throughout California, with 5.8 million enrollees last year, according to data from the California Department of Education. This trend has also affected the district as enrollment has declined since the 2023-24 school, with last year having 1,705 enrollees, which was 75 less than the year before, according to EdData. 

“These are economic factors to pay attention to, especially even statewide declining enrollment,” she said. “[It] not only will affect our immediate revenue to our school district, but the state’s revenue as well.”