After a smooth start to the new school year, the La Mesa Spring Valley School District recommenced its monthly meetings. Enrollment is higher than projected.
It also marks the end of the previous fiscal year and the Assistant Superintendent of Business Services, Tina Douglas, presented the district’s Unaudited Actuals Budget Report. Douglas stated that now that the books for the 2024-2025 school year are closed, that the district “received about $194 million in revenue, and most of it coming from our LCFF (Local Control Funding Formula) funding sources, and then we spent $206 million in expenditures.”
Of the district’s budget, 86 percent is spent on salaries. The rest is spent on operations and instruction. The board adopted a resolution to reduce spending by $2.7 million dollars for the 2026-2027 school year. The budget reduction plan to off set the $11 million dollar deficit will be presented in December.
Barbara Pratt was appointed by the board for her second term as the chair of the Personnel Commission. LMSVSD is one of fewer than 100 school districts in California that operate under a merit system that was enacted in 1966. Under that system, the Personnel Commission aims to ensure that employment and promotion is based on ability and knowledge without bias or favoritism.
The school board closed with comments from superintendent David Feliciano, in which he thanked staff for a smooth start to the new school year. He is also working with the La Mesa Historical Society to digitize the district’s historical records and is planning to recover some archives from storage.
Here is a timeline of the district’s history:
- 1877 – Spring Valley School District was founded
- 1895 – Allison School District was founded (serving the area which is now La Mesa)
- 1915 – The two districts merged to become the Allison Spring Valley School District
- 1932 – Allison Spring Valley School District changed its name to La Mesa-Spring Valley School District