what happens when there aren’t enough funds for all mandated services?
The district needs to borrow or otherwise procure funds from the State or elsewhere (they can only raise taxes after a successful referendum), because by law they cannot neglect legally mandated services.
In any event, by law they would have to cut out non-mandated services such as art, gym, culture, Pre-K, etc. before they run out of money for mandated services (such as busing). As of yet, there is still millions of dollars a year being spent on non-mandated services, such as the aforementioned examples.