RIVERSIDE – A dozen school districts in Riverside County may come up short paying their bills in the next couple of years, according to a report released on March 5 by the California Department of Education.

State Superintendent of Schools Tom Torlakson posted a status report on school districts’ finances midway through fiscal year 2012-13, and according to the document, 12 districts in Riverside County, including the following, are at risk of having insufficient funds between now and 2015-16:

• Lake Elsinore Unified School District;

• Menifee Union Elementary School District;

• Murrieta Valley Unified School District;

• Perris Union High School District; and

• Temecula Valley Unified School District.

The districts were among 117 statewide that received a "qualified certification" designation, indicating they could fail to meet their financial obligations this fiscal year or in the next two. Advertisement

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None of the county’s school districts received a "negative certification," which implies they’re destitute.

The qualified certification provides an opportunity for a county’s Office of Education to step in and lend whatever assistance may be needed to address funding issues, according to state officials.

Altogether, 124 local educational agencies in California received a qualified or negative certification, comprising just under 12 percent of the 1,043 LEAs statewide, according to Torlakson.

"I can say with growing confidence that the worst of California’s school funding crisis is behind us," Torlakson said. "As this report demonstrates, it will take years to restore our education system to financial health. No one was happy to see California slip to 49th in per-pupil funding, and no one should be satisfied when we move up to 46th or 47th."