Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Long Beach School District adopted its $158.5 million budget for the 2025-26 school year on April 24, a 1.67 percent increase over this year’s budget of $156 million. The budget includes several adjustments addressing both student needs and fiscal constraints.
A large part of the budget increase will go toward employee compensation, which has been adjusted from 2.23 percent to 2.92 percent. This includes restoring the Social Studies Learning Director position, adding staff for the high school Wellness Center and creating specialized teaching roles at the elementary level.
“We say it’s restored because we used to have a social studies director that we did not have this past year, because we were really trying to tighten things, and we realized that we really do need that position,” Michael DeVito, the district’s assistant superintendent of finance and operations, said. “We’re expanding it to include business and workplace learning. So, it’s a restoration of social studies within an expanded form.”
The district is responding to projected declines in student enrollment by eliminating 2.6 full-time equivalent positions, mostly in general education programs at the middle school level. The reductions reflect lower enrollment but are offset by the creation of the new roles.
Employee benefits are projected to decrease by about $55,000 due to flat health insurance premiums, although increases in social security, Medicare and workers’ compensation costs have been factored into the budget.
The budget includes $1.5 million for technology improvements, such as the purchase of new Chromebooks, SMART Boards and desktop computers. It also provides funding for updated flexible furniture in classrooms and additional upgrades at the high school.
Spending on vendor services is expected to rise, driven by higher costs for bus transportation contracts, insurance premiums and facility maintenance. To help balance these increases, the district is reducing overall supply expenses in response to declining student enrollment. Funding is also set aside specifically for building repairs across the district.
State aid is estimated at $27.8 million, based on the governor’s proposed budget. While these figures have yet to be confirmed, they represent a key part of the district’s revenue plan. Other revenue sources, such as tuition income and interest earnings, are expected to decline due to enrollment reductions.
“There’s nothing that I heard that said that would be a risk,” DeVito said, referring to state foundation aid. “I thought there was talk earlier, maybe making that even a larger number. So based on that, I feel pretty good, but you never really know.”
To meet the budget’s costs, the district is proposing a 2.4 percent increase in the local tax levy, which will generate approximately $2.6 million. This increase is well below the maximum allowable tax levy, indicating a conservative approach to raising funds.
If the district does not receive the full amount of foundation aid it is projecting, DeVito suggests using more of the district’s operating surplus to cover the shortfall. This approach would avoid increasing the tax levy beyond the planned 2.4 percent and would allow the district to maintain its proposed spending plan. However, it would leave less surplus available to transfer into the capital reserve for future projects.
With the budget now adopted, the district will hold a public hearing on May 13, followed by a final vote on May 20. This marks the end of the public budget process for the upcoming school year.
