San Diego County education officials recently placed the San Ysidro School District under fiscal supervision, calling the district “fiscal[ly] distress[ed.]”
In a letter to the district, county officials wrote that the district faces mounting deficits and is on track to be roughly $2.2 million in the red next year and more than double that amount the following year.
“Reserves are projected to be fully exhausted next year if budget reductions are not implemented,” the letter said. The county appointed a “fiscal advisor” to help right the ship, Jim Hinch reports. You can read the full story here.
And the District Responds
We didn’t hear back from officials with the San Ysidro School District in time for publication, but they reached out on Thursday.
A district leader told Hinch that the school board approved a nearly $5 million budget reduction plan last month that includes a hiring freeze, layoffs and other changes to spending.
“We’ve been really transparent about the district’s financial challenges,” the district’s Chief Business Officer Marilyn Adrianzen told Hinch. “We’re trying to be so creative with the funding and [job] positions.”
Read more in the South County Report here.
Did Opioid Settlement Dollars Land in One Woman’s Pockets?
Earlier this week, we broke the news that prosecutors have charged a former leader of a nonprofit tasked with distributing overdose reversal drugs with stealing $134,000 from the public. (Read our story here.)
Inside Voice: In reporting that story, our Lisa Halverstadt wondered if the funds Amy Knox allegedly used to pay for plastic surgery, shopping and electricity bills came from opioid settlements paid by corporations connected to the opioid epidemic. In July, a county spokesperson told her opioid settlement funds weren’t tapped for the Harm Reduction Coalition’s largest contract deploying overdose reversal drug naloxone.
Then District Attorney Summer Stephan said Wednesday that the funds were part of the settlement money distributed to the county.
OK, but … another county spokesperson told us on Thursday that no opioid settlement funds were given to Knox’s former employer. Spokesperson Tammy Glenn told Voice that the county initially planned to use settlement funds on a second Harm Reduction Coalition contract to test street drugs for deadly fentanyl but “ended up utilizing other county funds” to cover those services. Glenn said the county did, however, use opioid settlement funds for county staff costs tied to initial planning and ramp-up of the contract.
Bottom line: We’ve got more questions for the District Attorney’s Office and the county.
The City Is Picking Up La Jolla’s Legal Tab
Remember when the city of San Diego decided to fight the region’s boundary refs in an attempt to stop La Jolla’s independence push? A judge threw the case out last fall.
The city must now cough up $116,000 for The Association for the City of La Jolla’s legal fees. The City Council is set to vote on the item on Tuesday.
Newly Homeless Again Outpace Newly Housed
The number of people becoming homeless in San Diego County outpaced the number moving into homes in January.
The Regional Task Force on Homelessness reports that 1,064 people became homeless for the first time and 976 exited homelessness.
Your monthly reminder: For most of the last few years, local efforts to house homeless residents haven’t kept up with the flood of people losing their homes. There’s recently been some progress on this front, but the equation must change to dramatically reduce homelessness.
In Other News
- A Los Angeles fire Department veteran is the county’s new director of Emergency Services. (County News Center)
- Customs and Border Protection wants ownership details and other information on every parcel in San Diego County, according to an official who handles county property data. (San Francisco Chronicle)
- The CEO of the Convention Center Corp., Rip Rippetoe is retiring this year. He will leave after a new CEO is chosen and begins work. Monday, the San Diego City Council will vote on moving $21 million to a fund to begin major repairs and modernization projects at the facility.
- The city appears poised to make changes to its public comment process for public meetings to comply with state law. (Union-Tribune)
- The Metropolitan Transit System is considering a major fare hike to address a big budget deficit. (10 News)
- San Diego City Council is set to vote next week on a proposed $6.3 million payout for flood damage during the January 2024 storm. (Union-Tribune)
The Morning Report was written by Jim Hinch, Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña, Scott Lewis and Lisa Halverstadt. It was edited by Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña.