Why enrollment was restricted

The decision removed families the district had actively recruited and welcomed into our schools.

HBCSD was carrying approximately $7 million in ongoing deficit spending. The district faced closing a school, laying off staff, and the possibility of a State takeover.

The alternatives to restricting enrollment were increased class sizes, significant layoffs, and eliminated programs for the students who remained.

Prioritizing resident students also reflects how a community-funded (basic aid) district is financed. Local property taxes paid by HBCSD residents support HBCSD schools, and those dollars are intended to serve the children of the families who pay them rather than students residing outside the district.

Pandemic ADA funding

HBCSD continued receiving funding based on its protected pre-pandemic ADA for two years, even though these students were no longer allowed to attend our schools.

The ADA “hold-harmless” applied to every California school district for 2020-21 and 2021-22. HBCSD received no protection that other districts did not.

– Under the funding statutes already in place, HBCSD would have received the greater of current-year or prior-year ADA. The post-pandemic hold-harmless extended that by one year.

– Former HBCSD students who enrolled in neighboring districts increased those districts’ ADA, creating the same funding protections for them in future years.

With an ongoing structural deficit of $7 million, the hold-harmless benefited HBCSD students by stalling program changes and staff reductions during the pandemic.

The move to community funding

Enrollment changes eventually helped move HBCSD from ADA-based funding to basic-aid funding, a process that took approximately five years.

The transition was anticipated, not accidental. The administration at the time projected that restricting interdistrict transfers would reduce enrollment to the level at which HBCSD would become a community-funded (basic aid) district.

That projection proved accurate, and the transition took approximately five years. Community funding is the basis of the district’s financial stability today.

The decision was made deliberately, under conditions of fiscal crisis, with the long-term interests of resident students in view.

Certificates of Participation

Approximately $17 million in Certificates of Participation debt was secured against our school properties.

It is always appropriate to ask questions when a public agency incurs debt.

The Certificates of Participation were issued by a prior administration and Board to install solar panels at all school sites, based on a legally vetted vendor proposal projecting a return on investment that would exceed the debt payments.

– Those projected returns did not materialize. A number of other Orange County school districts have faced the same outcome.

– The HBCSD Board has since refinanced the debt at lower interest, saving taxpayer funds.

– The Board sets aside repayment funds each year and expects to fully retire the COP obligations by 2028-29.

The Gisler property sale

The sale of the former Gisler school property for $39 million took away public land the community can

never get back.

Sowers Middle School would not have been built without that sale. Measure Q funds alone were not sufficient to complete the project.

With the Board’s support, HBCSD then pursued and secured $18 million in additional State funding.

– Those funds completed facility improvement projects across the district, including air conditioning (HVAC) at every HBCSD elementary and secondary school site.

HBCSD has managed facilities funds conservatively, secured additional State funding, and directed those funds to the benefit of HBCSD students.

Green space in South Huntington Beach

Gisler held the only large, open school fields in South Huntington Beach.

Nearly every city block south of Adams Avenue and east of Beach Boulevard is built around a school that contains open green space.

The following schools and green spaces remain in South Huntington Beach:

– Peterson Elementary

– District Office (formerly Kettler Elementary) and softball fields – Eader Elementary

– Hawes Elementary

– Former Burke Elementary site (currently leased by Huntington Christian)

District funding levels

For many years, HBCSD was identified as the fifth-lowest-funded school district in California.

HBCSD has not ranked fifth-lowest in California. The district’s actual standing, and its improvement:

– FY 2019-20: $10,691 per ADA; 11th of 12 Orange County elementary districts; 437th of 518 California elementary districts; 15th percentile among elementary districts with 1,000 or more ADA.

– FY 2024-25: $17,808 per ADA; 10th of 13 Orange County elementary districts; 359th of 511 California elementary districts; 29th percentile.