Manhattan Beach Unified's board voted unanimously on Thursday, June 18 to adopt a 2026-27 budget projecting an $878,887 surplus, capping a five-month reversal from January, when the district was staring down more than $7 million in cuts and had authorized reducing up to 58.85 full-time positions.
The turnaround means fewer teachers and staff will lose their jobs than feared. Thirty-five employees took early retirement through the district's Supplemental Employee Retirement Plan, and the board has continued rescinding layoff notices issued in the spring.
"We're not done rescinding yet," Trustee Jen Dohner said at the June 17-18 board meetings.
By the May 15 final-notice deadline, the layoff list had shrunk to 26.235 positions, including 17.6 certificated and 5.635 classified. The board also lowered its Reserve for Economic Uncertainty from 5 percent to 4 percent, freeing roughly $1 million to restore additional positions.
What drove the reversal
Two state-level changes did the heavy lifting: a 2.87 percent cost-of-living adjustment and a $2.4 million ongoing increase in special education funding that raised the state's base per-pupil grant from under $1,000 to $1,340.
The Manhattan Beach Education Foundation also stepped up with a record commitment. MBEF's grant for 2026-27 started at $7.636 million and grew to what the district described as roughly $8 million after the foundation extended its annual appeal through May 30. The parcel tax Measure MB adds another $2.5 million annually.
Structural problems remain
Deputy Superintendent Dawnalyn Murakawa-Leopard told trustees the good news has limits. "It's good news for now, but it is not a solution to our long-term problems," she said in her budget presentation.
The district's own multi-year projection shows deficit spending returning at $582,786 in 2027-28 and growing to $1,328,078 by 2028-29. MBUSD receives $11,657 per student in Local Control Funding Formula dollars, compared to a county median of $13,610 and a state median of $14,421. That gap exists because the district ranks second-lowest among California's 345 unified districts in its share of high-need students, the metric Sacramento uses to distribute supplemental funding.
Trustee Jen Fenton, whose term ends in December 2026, called the annual cycle of issuing layoff notices and then pulling them back a problem she'd "love to not continue." Dohner called it "the lather, rinse, repeat cycle."
What's next
The June 18 vote came under outgoing Superintendent John Bowes. Governor Newsom signed the state's $351.7 billion final budget on Monday, June 29, which includes a $2.2 billion increase to the LCFF statewide and $1.8 billion more for special education. MBUSD's administration plans to return to the board in August with a revised budget once the local impact of those state dollars is assessed.
South Bay families interested in school funding can attend the RBUSD Board of Education Workshop on Strategic Plan and LCAP Survey Results on Friday, July 10, from 9 a.m. to noon at the RBUSD Board Room, 1401 Inglewood Avenue, Redondo Beach.
