Strong Schools Start with a Stable Budget | Here's Where HBCSD Stands

As we near the end of the 2025–26 school year, we want to share an update on our district's financial standing and what that means for your children's schools.

We are in a stable position, and we want to keep it that way.

HBCSD became a "community-funded" district in 2024–25, meaning our local property tax revenue now exceeds the amount provided by California's state funding formula. This is good news for our community. While many school districts across the state have been forced to make significant cuts to staff, class sizes, and programs, HBCSD has been able to maintain the services your family counts on.

That stability is not something we take for granted, nor is it unlimited.

What you should know

Our revenues and expenditures are closely matched. There is very little margin between what comes in and what goes out, and over 82% of our budget goes directly to the people serving your children: teachers, counselors, support staff, and more. This means that adding new programs or services requires careful, strategic decision-making, not just available funding.

Every investment we make is guided by our district's strategic priorities, the goals our community has identified as most important for student success. The programs in place today, from Transitional Kindergarten for all 4-year-olds, to counseling support at every school, to our ongoing technology initiative, reflect those priorities. Our students' strong academic performance is a direct result of that consistency and commitment.

To learn more about our budget, how we got here, and what it means for the road ahead, we invite you to watch a brief video overview from our Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services, Mr. Gary Stine. We encourage every family to take a few minutes to watch.

Thank you for your continued trust and partnership in supporting our schools.