District overview
How Santa Ana Unified is funded, governed, and where its budget and facilities stand right now
Like most California districts, Santa Ana Unified is funded mainly through the state's Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), which pays districts based on average daily attendance plus extra dollars for low-income, English-learner, and foster-youth students. Because the formula follows students rather than buildings, a shrinking student count directly shrinks the district's revenue even though its 52 school sites and their fixed costs stay largely the same. Board members and staff have described this enrollment decline repeatedly over the past year as the driver behind a districtwide Fiscal Stabilization Plan adopted in March 2026 and behind visible staffing reductions raised by parents at nearly every board meeting.
LCFF dollars are tied to average daily attendance, so declining enrollment reduces revenue even when a school's costs do not fall as quickly.
The formula adds 'supplemental and concentration' dollars for districts with large shares of low-income, English-learner, and foster-youth students, which describes most of SAUSD's enrollment.
The board adopted a Fiscal Stabilization Plan (Resolution 25/26-3729) in March 2026 after a Community Budget Advisory Committee review of enrollment, facilities, staffing efficiency, and school-site funding.
The district's 2025-26 First Interim Report received a positive certification, meaning staff projected it can meet its financial obligations for the current year and the two years after it.
A positive budget certification and a stabilization plan are not the same as a crisis: the reviewed board records do not show the district reporting a deficit. The stabilization plan is best read as proactive planning for a declining-enrollment trend already underway, not evidence of immediate financial distress.
Full reconstruction of Monroe Elementary School, delivered under a lease-leaseback contract and funded through the Measure I bond program.
Measure I bond program
Following board concerns about the school's original namesake, staff covered the existing Cesar Chavez High School signage, ran a community-input process, and the board formally authorized renaming the school to Dolores Huerta High School.
Not stated in reviewed records
A new three-year strategic plan covering student achievement, wellness, family and community engagement, and organizational effectiveness.
Not applicable (planning document)
A districtwide plan addressing declining enrollment and attendance, facilities, organizational efficiency, and school-site funding, developed with a Community Budget Advisory Committee.
General fund / LCFF
The board ratified emergency remediation, relocation, and repair work already carried out at Taft Elementary School, alongside a separate agreement for an emergency temporary relocation site. The reviewed minutes do not explain what caused the emergency.
Not stated in reviewed records
Santa Ana Unified School District
The Board President (Trustee Area 4, Katelyn Brazer Aceves) and Vice President (Trustee Area 5, Hector Bustos) both hold seats with terms ending in 2026, indicating both trustee areas are due for election at the November 2026 general election.
Official source · verified Aug 24, 2026
This page is built from the district's own posted board meeting minutes (August 2025 through June 2026, plus one earlier undated record) collected directly from sausd.us. The district's primary agenda/packet portal (Simbli/eBoardSolutions) could not be used: its terms of service prohibit automated collection, and its document-export links are separately known to regenerate on every view, which is incompatible with stable source storage. As a result, this page reflects official board minutes and their personnel-calendar attachments, not full agenda packets, staff reports, or the district's Adopted Budget and LCAP documents.
We read every agenda, packet, and set of minutes, and write up the decisions that affect families — each one linked to the document it came from.
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