Newport-Mesa Unified Just Deficit-spent $36 million

This year, one of the big stories has been local school districts struggling to make their budgets, and Newport-Mesa Unified School District is no different. In 2024-2025, Newport-Mesa deficit-spent by approximately $36 million.

Compounding the difficulty, approximately 18 school districts statewide, including major districts such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Berkley Unified, have hit an impasse in negotiating labor agreements with teachers and other employees.

However, the districts are flush with revenue. State funding for local districts is at record levels, and property tax revenue has exploded in lockstep with climbing real estate valuations. Indeed, since 2018-2019, Newport-Mesa’s revenues have increased 45%.

Where is this money going, if not to teachers?

A recent editorial by a school board trustee in Apple Valley Unified School District provides some answers. In the piece, Trustee Renee Longshore notes that administration/supervision costs have risen a staggering 90% in her district over the last six years. Amid the increased scrutiny, she notes the district cannot account for $15,459,155.91 in expenditures over the last seven years.

According to Trustee Longshore, all these overhead expenses have taken away from classroom expenditures. Although Apple Valley USD revenues went up 57% over the same time period, spending on teachers only went up 39%.

Trustee Longshore’s article prompted me to take a close look at the last six years of Newport-Mesa’s budgets.

Despite encompassing wildly different demographics and locations, Newport-Mesa’s budgetary woes track Apple Valley’s.

From 2019-2020 through 2024-2025, Newport-Mesa’s revenues rose 45%, from $327.6 million to $475.1 million. Yet, spending on classroom teachers only increased 32%—the absolute lowest increase among various salary groups.

However, the district was far more generous with respect to certificated supervisors and administrators, who saw a 72% raise during the same period. This group includes the superintendent and his staff.

Spending on consultants and contractors also ballooned. Newport-Mesa’s spending on consultants is up a staggering 167%, while “subagreement” spending roughly doubled over six years.

Worrying, spending on travel and conferences also increased significantly at 61%.

Perhaps most concerning is the increase in “General Administration” spending. Whatever this category relates to, spending is up 75%!

The increase in “General Administration” expenses from 2023-2024 to 2024-2025, alone, accounts for nearly one-third of Newport-Mesa’s $36 million in deficit spending last school year.

The numbers tell us that Newport-Mesa have prioritized spending on administrators, supervisors, consultants, and general overhead at the expense of teachers and other folks responsible for educating our children.

Unfortunately, the test results reflect these priorities. Despite boasting one of the wealthiest tax bases and highest spending per student in Orange County, Newport-Mesa’s student proficiency is roughly average for the county:

To achieve high level results, our school districts must spend prudently.