District overview
Mountain Valley Unified School District
Funding structure, how it compares to peers, and where major projects stand.
How is Mountain Valley Unified funded, and by whom?
Like most California school districts, Mountain Valley Unified is funded mainly through the state's Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), which sets a per-student target and fills it with a mix of local property taxes and state aid. Because Trinity County's tax base includes a working timber industry, the district's local revenue includes a small but distinctive Timber Yield Tax line alongside ordinary secured-roll property taxes. The district's own FY2024-25 audited financial statements report $9.88 million in total revenue against $9.09 million in total expenses for roughly 330 students spread across three small school sites (Hayfork Elementary, Hayfork High, and Valley High).
State formula funding, topped by local property and timber tax
Most revenue flows through LCFF, which combines local secured-roll property tax and Timber Yield Tax collections (tied to Trinity County's logging economy) with state aid that fills the gap up to the formula's per-student target.
Standard LCFF formula, not the state's 'necessary small school' formula
Despite serving only about 330 students across three sites, the district's own budget filings select the standard LCFF revenue standard rather than the state's alternate 'necessary small school' formula, which applies to even smaller single-school districts.
Federal and other state aid fill out the rest
Federal programs (including special-education entitlements) and other state revenue made up a meaningful share of the district's $9.88 million in total FY2024-25 revenue, on top of LCFF.
A separate, audited bond fund covers some facilities work
Voter-approved Measure J bond dollars are tracked and independently audited in their own fund each year, separately from the district's day-to-day general fund.
None of this means the district is cash-flush: the FY2025-26 budget itself projects the general fund balance to shrink after two years of growth, and the district's own financial reports describe temporary, pandemic-era federal and state funding boosts tapering off.
Where the district stands
FY2024-25 total expenses divided by roughly 330 students; combines an audited district-wide total with a separately reported enrollment count, so treat as an approximate, district-wide figure rather than a precise per-pupil allocation.
Major projects
Ag Barns electrical service upgrade
Approved, underwayThe board approved a $28,215.03 contract with Trinity Public Utilities District to upgrade the electrical service at the district's Ag Barns to a 120/240-volt, 200-amp underground service, to support the agriculture program's future needs.
- Board approved the $28,215.03 Trinity PUD contract
Funding
District general fund (board-approved contract)
Hayfork FFA sawmill
Completed and operatingThe Hayfork FFA chapter built and opened a working sawmill for its agriculture and forestry program, using timber donated by Trinity River Lumber Company. The mill opened in May 2026 and its grand opening was celebrated among the district's year-end events.
- FFA completed its first log cutting using donated Trinity River Lumber Company timber
- Mill opening reported to the board
- Sawmill Grand Opening celebrated among year-end FFA events
Funding
Donated materials (Trinity River Lumber Company) and Hayfork FFA chapter fundraising; the collected board record does not state a district-funded construction budget.
Built from Mountain Valley Unified's own board agendas, minutes, and packets, published in a public Google Drive folder linked from the district's Board of Trustees page (mvusd.us/board-of-trustees/meetings-and-agendas), covering the district's most recent 12 months of regular and special board meetings, plus the FY2024-25 independent annual audit and the 2026-27 budget/LCAP documents included in that same set of records.
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