The purpose of this portion of this week’s update is to present the District's first Interim Budget for the current fiscal year and to provide essential context regarding the structural challenges that continue to shape our long-term financial landscape.

We are pleased to report that the District’s Interim Budget, to be presented to the Board on December 17, reflects a strong financial position with healthy operational reserves. This marks a significant turnaround for Durham Unified.

When this administration began nearly six years ago, the District was struggling to meet the state-mandated reserve level of 4% and consistently fell short of the Board's own policy target of 8%. The current fiscal health has been achieved through a combination of factors:

• Conservative Budgeting: Instituting disciplined and strategic spending practices.

• Collaborative Labor Relations: Maintaining strong, constructive partnerships with the District’s bargaining units.

• One-Time Relief: Prudent management of unforeseen revenues, including disaster relief funds.

While our short-term finances are sound, we must acknowledge the structural issues within the State of California’s school finance system that make sustained long-term budgeting difficult for districts like Durham.

The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), introduced in 2013, is the primary mechanism for funding K-12 education in California. It is designed around three main components:

1. Base Grant: A standard per-student allocation that varies based on the type of district (Elementary, High School, or Unified, with Unified districts falling in the middle of the range).

2. Supplementary Funding: Additional funding provided based on the percentage of Unduplicated Students (those identified as Free or Reduced-Price Lunch eligible, English Language Learners, or Foster Youth).

3. Concentration Grant: A significant funding tier reserved only for districts where the percentage of Unduplicated Students reaches 55% or greater.

Durham Unified consistently has a percentage of Unduplicated Students in the low 40% range—typically the lowest percentage in Butte County.

Because our percentage falls below the 55% threshold, Durham Unified does not qualify for the Concentration Grant. The combined result of these LCFF components is that, on a per-student basis, Durham receives less state funding than every other district in Butte County and a significant portion of districts statewide.

This systemic disparity means districts with Durham's specific demographics are often disadvantaged by the current funding structure.

Key Finding: Dr. David Roth, Superintendent of Buckeye Union Elementary School District in El Dorado County, identified Durham Unified as one of 239 underfunded districts across the state. Considering there are 937 districts statewide, this means slightly more than 25% of California districts are facing similar funding struggles.

This information is shared not as a complaint, but to promote informed understanding among our school board, staff, and community regarding the continued funding struggles faced by Durham Unified. We are hopeful this dialogue will lead to sustained advocacy for equitable reforms to the LCFF.

The links to Dr. Roth’s tools are below. I welcome anyone to contact me via email at jbohannon@durhamunfied.org or by phone at 530-895-4675 to discuss further.

Tracking the Underfunded Gap
https://claude.ai/public/artifacts/dc637dd5-d416-47f6-94f3-6405e5fc488e

District Funding Gap Tracker
https://claude.ai/public/artifacts/62d251d8-bcd2-4e7f-9a2f-819fcc7ceb9a

District Revenue Comparison Report
https://claude.ai/public/artifacts/cb9bcb34-52e4-4e34-b041-9884b2bf4c8f

Methodology and Technical Analysis
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IJ0VW9qXT7n0fZA5RrVNoj7c8WUc-R38/edit

New additions to Durham Unified staff families
Durham Elementary School 5th grade teacher Katie Harvey, and Durham High School agriculture teacher Makenna Kann had a lot to be thankful for during Thanksgiving break.

Katie welcomed her baby daughter Ruth to the family on November 24.

Makenna’s baby girl Hazel was born on November 26.

Congratulations to both young families!

DIS student featured  in Growing Up Chico

Savannah Robbins, an 8th grade student at DIS, was recognized with a story in the Growing Up Chico magazine. The article focuses on Savannah’s busy life while positively educating her friends on what it is like to live an active life with Type I diabetes.

The full article can be found here: https://issuu.com/growingupchico/docs/winter_2025.

DES (from Samantha Brown)
After a restful Thanksgiving break, everyone returned rested and ready for the fun and craziness of the holiday season. On the first Monday back, Mrs. Knobbe held the December ASB Leadership meeting during lunch, and the Chess Club met after school in the DES Library. Tuesday, December 2nd was Special Education Day and our December monthly staff meeting. Finally, on Wednesday, December 3rd, we will hold our rescheduled November School Site Council meeting after school in DES Room 4. Our Kindergarten classes are practicing for their upcoming VAPA performances of "The Gingerbread Man."

Next week the fun continues with ASB Candy Cane Gram Sales being sold for 15 minutes before and after school each day for $2.00 each in the bus circle in front of the DES Office (or in the hallway by the office if it's too cold). The grams will be delivered on Thursday, December 18th to students in the classrooms.On Tuesday, we will hold our monthly safety drill in the afternoon and the 5th and 6th grade bands will hold their Winter Concert in the DHS Gym at 6:00PM. On Wednesday, PTS will host the Christmas Boutique in the DES MPR where all students will be able to shop for up to five gifts for their family, and Principal Brown will host Popsicles with the Principal in the afternoon to recognize our students of the month. On Thursday evening, Mrs. Buttitta's class will hold their evening performance of "The Gingerbread Man" at 5:30 PM in the DES MPR.  

DIS (From Josh Rowe)
Girls Basketball

Our 7th and 8th grade girls are wrapping up their seasons this week. They took on Ishi Hills, with the 7th grade team battling through a tight loss and the 8th grade team securing a solid win.
Next week, they will close out the season by facing Nelson Avenue Middle School on Tuesday, followed by the Chico Country Day Tournament on Friday, December 12th, and Saturday, December 13th. Come out and support our Panthers!

Boys Basketball

Tryouts for 7th and 8th grade boys basketball began yesterday and will conclude this evening. We are excited to see our teams take the court in January—stay tuned for the release of their season schedule.

Shady Creek Parent Meeting

Parents and guardians of 6th graders are invited to attend a Shady Creek Parent Meeting on December 16th at 5:30 PM. This meeting will provide important information about the memorable outdoor education experience your student will participate in at Shady Creek.
Se ofrecerá interpretación en español.

PE Update

Dance is in full swing in PE! Students are learning dance etiquette, line dancing, partner dances, and social dances from various decades. They’ll have an opportunity to showcase their moves at our upcoming winter dance.

Upcoming Dates

• December 8: PTS Meeting at DIS & Durham Sports Boosters Meeting — 6:00 PM in the DHS Library

• December 9: 5th & 6th Grade Band Concert — 6:00 PM, DHS Gym

• December 16: Shady Creek Parent Meeting — 5:30 PM

• December 17: 7th & 8th Grade Band Concert — 6:00 PM, PV High School Performing Arts Center

• December 18: Winter Wonderland Dance — 5:30–7:00 PM

• December 19: Minimum Day

• December 22 – January 2: Winter Break — No School

DHS (From Marty Wilkes)

Counseling:
In Advisory, this week’s To Be Challenge was to be Selfless. Students were encouraged to do something for someone else like picking up their trash after a meal. Consider having a discussion with your student(s) about other ways we can act selflessly.

Next week it’s on! We will be having a door decorating contest on Monday. Each class will create their own “Winter Wonderland” themed door with supplies brought from home. Judging will take place on Wednesday. Who will have the best door?? Can’t wait to see!

This week we took around 20 students to tour the Butte College Auto Program. Students learned about the opportunities available through this dynamic program. 
Next week Butte College will be meeting with seniors in Civics classes to complete an application workshop for those who are considering Butte next fall. 

Athletics:
Basketball:
The Girls Basketball team got their first win of the young season by beating Quincy 44-27. Senior Ava Bunch knocked down a pair of 3 pointers to keep the Quincy team from completely collapsing down in the paint.  The girls also picked up a win in the first round of the Colusa Tournament playing well in the fourth period (21 points) to come from behind to beat Fortuna High School 56-48

The Boys team also defeated Quincy 50-20 on Tuesday night.  Senior Luke Mattern led the team with 17 points and junior Nolan Ring played well in his first varsity game and had 12 points.  The boys also picked up a win in the first round of their tournament Thursday night.  The home crowd got to see Big Luke Mattern hit a buzzer beater in overtime for the win.  Nolan Ring led the team with 20 points.  Nolan hit some big shots to keep the Trojans in the game.  

Upcoming basketball games:
Dec. 4-6 - Boys are at home for their tournament and the Girls team will travel to Colusa
Dec. 11 - Boys are at Mt Shasta tournament
Dec. 11 - Girls home tournament

Wrestling:
Wrestling season is off to a good start for both the boys and the girls’ teams winning the Tournament at Las Plumas High School over the weekend.  They will be at another tournament this weekend in Orland.

Soccer:
The girls soccer team season is starting this week with a tournament in Oroville.

FFA:
This week has been a busy and exciting one for our chapter! On December 2nd, Mr. Deaton took a team to the Marysville Fabrication Contest, and on December 5th another team proudly represented Durham at the Gridley Welding Contest. Our Horticulture program is also hosting its annual Poinsettia Sale—join us on December 5 from 2:30–5:00 PM or December 6 from 9:00 AM–2:30 PM to pick up some holiday cheer. We’ll wrap up the semester with our final FFA meeting on December 10th at 6:30 PM.

Weekly Update Archive