Fresno Unified Spent All $13 Million in Voter-Approved Arts Funds — Statewide, $34 Million Left Unspent

Fresno Unified School District spent all of its $13 million share of Proposition 28 arts education funds in the 2023-2024 school year, hiring 92 new teachers and launching new dance and arts programs for nearly 50,000 students, according to expenditure data obtained by EdSource.

Statewide, California schools spent 96% of the roughly $1 billion annual allocation voters approved in 2022, but about 336 districts, charter schools, and county offices left $34.4 million unspent — money they will lose from next year’s allocation under the measure’s rules.

Fresno Unified hired 60 new full-time arts instructors, 19 elementary arts integration teachers, and 13 dance teachers with the funds, said Heather McKeithen, arts education manager for the district. The district also trained all 105 of its principals “to ensure the money was being spent the way the law intended,” McKeithen said.

“The biggest concern initially was around hiring that many teachers,” especially educators credentialed in dance and theater, McKeithen said. The district also had to figure out how to make new arts programs work within limited instructional time, she said.

McKeithen said staff also had to think strategically about the long term: “Everyone was also so used to grant money disappearing after a few years, that we had to think more strategically with an eye towards the long term.”

Prop. 28, passed by voters in 2022, sets aside about $1 billion per year for arts education, distributed to schools based on enrollment and share of low-income students. Schools had until June 30 to spend their first-year allocation or face deductions from next year’s funds.

About 85% of California schools and districts spent all of their allocation, according to Kyle Holmes, director of the California County Superintendents Statewide Arts Initiative, which provided the data. Los Angeles Unified spent all of its $71 million allocation; San Diego Unified spent 99% of its roughly $15 million.

But Sacramento City Unified spent only 71% of its $6.2 million allocation, returning more than $1.8 million to the state. Yuba City Unified spent only 18% of its allocation and will lose about $1.7 million. Palmdale Elementary School District spent about 55%, losing $1.4 million.

Holmes said the 96% expenditure rate exceeded expectations given confusion around the law’s spending rules, a lack of state-level guidance, shortages of arts educators, and missing arts administrators. “With all the confusion and frustration, with very little guidance or direction set forward in the statute, this is better than any of us could have expected,” Holmes said.

The law requires schools to use Prop. 28 funds on new arts instruction under a “supplement, not supplant” rule, but confusion around that requirement led some schools to allegedly misuse funds for existing salaries or stipends in choir, band, theater, and dance programs. In 2025, former Los Angeles Unified superintendent and Prop. 28 author Austin Beutner sued LAUSD, accusing the district of diverting millions in Prop. 28 funding to pay for existing salaries. The case is pending in court.

A new law, Assembly Bill 2440, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September, requires schools to post expenditure plans publicly and more clearly defines the four arts disciplines — visual arts, music, dance, and theater — that are eligible for Prop. 28 spending. It also allows districts to use Prop. 28 funds on arts programs that lost funding.

A statewide analysis earlier this year found that more than $218 million in Prop. 28 funds remained unspent as of March, in part because schools had charged their spending to funds they received for the following two years instead, Holmes said. Fixing the accounting error alone saved schools from losing about $168 million from next year’s allocations, he said.

The Breakdown

• Voters passed Prop. 28 in 2022, setting aside about $1 billion per year for K-12 arts education distributed based on enrollment and share of low-income students.
• Fresno Unified spent all of its $13 million first-year allocation, hiring 92 new arts teachers and launching new elementary arts integration and dance programs for nearly 50,000 students.
• Statewide, schools spent 96% of their roughly $1 billion allocation, but 336 schools and districts left $34.4 million unspent and will lose that amount from next year’s funds.
• Schools had until June 30 to spend their first-year allocation; the law requires funds be used on new arts instruction, not to replace existing spending.
• A new law signed in September requires schools to post expenditure plans publicly and more clearly defines which arts disciplines are eligible for funding.

What This Means for You

Voters approved Prop. 28 to guarantee arts education funding for California schools in 2022, and this is the first accounting of spending. Fresno Unified spent its full $13 million share, putting 92 new arts teachers in classrooms.

But statewide, 336 districts left $34.4 million unspent and will lose it from next year’s allocation. The law requires funds be used on new arts instruction under a “supplement, not supplant” rule.

One lawsuit is pending over whether Los Angeles Unified misused the funds for existing salaries instead of new programs.

What to Watch

Students in districts that spent their allocation (like Fresno Unified’s nearly 50,000 students) gained access to 92 new arts teachers and new programs in dance and arts integration. Students in the 336 districts that left $34.4 million unspent will get smaller allocations next year.

The pending lawsuit against Los Angeles Unified alleges the district diverted millions in Prop. 28 funding to pay for existing salaries instead of new programs — a direct violation of the “supplement, not supplant” rule voters approved. The case is still in court.

AB 2440 now requires districts to post expenditure plans publicly — those plans, when they appear, will show how each district is spending the funds.

A statewide analysis found that more than $218 million in Prop. 28 funds remained unspent as of March because schools charged spending to future years’ allocations instead of the current year — fixing that error saved schools from losing about $168 million.