The budget deficit in San Diego Unified is now estimated at $106 million instead of $180 million — a difference of roughly $74 million.
What happened? School board member Richard Barrera said that San Diego Unified is now budgeting based on their actual expenses for most of the year, instead of projections, and is now showing the savings generated by individual schools and departments cutting back.
The quick explanation I got from staffers was that they have gotten updated revenue estimates and adjusted their numbers. (Gee, I wish I got updated revenue estimates for my checking account like that.) I’m going through the documents line by line to understand what the heck happened and where the changes are. Look for updates soon.