Mayacamas school remains fiscally afloat despite low enrollment

Napa’s Mayacamas Charter Middle School ran into a fiscal bump after opening for the first time last fall, under the haze of a legal decision that threatened to close the school, because enrollment was much lower than projected.

Indeed, school leaders say uncertainty around the legal judgment — which is currently being appealed — led to the Mayacamas school enrolling about 50% fewer students than anticipated in June 2023. That has led to a drop in state funding, the school’s primary source of money, which is tied to enrollment through average daily attendance.

“Due to legal issues the new charter school encountered, it was unclear if the school would be able to open in the fall,” according to a Dec. 15 Mayacamas budget report. “Because of that uncertainty, some enrolled families did not end up attending.”

But despite the loss of expected students, the Mayacamas school has remained fiscally afloat through its first few months and expects to remain that way through the rest of the year, according to its first interim financial report. The Napa Foundation for Options in Education — the entity that manages the school — submitted the report to the Napa County Office of Education on Dec. 15, the legal deadline.

The report anticipates the school will spend about $1.58 million in its first year, falling about $100,000 below revenues of $1.69 million. Several details of the school budget have been adjusted to account for the decreased enrollment.

In June 2023, the projected enrollment was 142 students, based on the school’s receiving over 160 applications, according to the budget narrative. But enrollment actually fluctuated between 70 and 76 students during the school’s first few months, which led the board to adjust the budget to a projected enrollment of 75 students.

That led to a major reduction in projected state funding — Mayacamas budgeted for $1.58 million in general enrollment-based funding back in June 2023, and revised that number to about $803,000 in the first interim budget.

There are several other changes from the June 2023 preliminary budget, which include:

• A reduction of around $380,000 in money budgeted for teacher and staff salaries along with a reduction of about $100,000 in payments for employee benefits. Other areas of spending that connect directly with student enrollment were also reduced.

• The first interim budget adds in around $300,000 in private grants as revenue.

• A reduction in budgeted rental payments for school facilities, going from about $259,000 in June to around $187,000. That reduction was negotiated with the landlord, according to the budget narrative.

The foundation board certified the first interim budget report during a special meeting Dec. 18. In a message sent to NCOE along with the Dec. 15 report, foundation leaders said it’s their understanding board approval of the report isn’t legally required.

A quorum of the board couldn’t meet prior to that date because members were ill or out of the country, according to the message sent to NCOE.

But Jolene Yee, co-president, said at the meeting NCOE had requested the board also adopt the interim report.

NCOE also requested that Mayacamas submit a corrective action plan to outline how the school would boost enrollment and ensure fiscal stability. In that report, Mayacamas leaders state that outreach is continuing through events, fliers at local businesses and the use of social media. School leadership also recently sent out English and Spanish postcards to over 1,600 families throughout Napa, according to the report.

The corrective action plan says Mayacamas leadership expect the school will become financially stable in about five years, at a full enrollment of roughly 324 students.

“We have every confidence that students who need highly individualized learning and who see the benefits of our project-based learning model in a small-school environment will find us and become members of the Mayacamas community,” the report said.

You can reach Staff Writer Edward Booth at 707-521-5281 or edward.booth@pressdemocrat.com.