The cafeteria fund is projected to go negative this school year

What happened

Feeding students costs $784,621 against $585,630 of revenue. The fund balance that has absorbed that gap fell from $174,102.71 to $2,328.71 and is projected to end 2026-27 at negative $171,662.29 — meaning the General Fund must begin covering school meals.

Why it matters to families

California's universal meals programme was designed to stop meal costs falling on a district's general fund. Once this reserve is gone, money that would otherwise fund classrooms starts paying for lunch.

The evidence

Fund 13 in the adopted 2026-27 budget shows total revenues of $585,630 against total expenditures of $784,621, a beginning balance of $2,328.71 and an ending balance of negative $171,662.29.

The source