An audit of the Aromas-San Juan Unified School District showed
the ending fund balance for this fiscal year could be nearly $1
million in the red, according to a memorandum released
Thursday.
An audit of the Aromas-San Juan Unified School District showed the ending fund balance for this fiscal year could be nearly $1 million in the red, according to a memorandum released Thursday.
Tim Foley, the county’s school superintendent, said the office of education will begin working with the district to solve its budgetary problems.
“I will be appointing a fiscal adviser to the board to help them through,” Foley said.
A fiscal crisis and management assistance will also be brought in to help the district resolve the deficit, Foley said.
Several factors have contributed to the looming budget crisis.
“These areas of concern include the current fiscal crisis and lack of ability to continue as a ‘going concern,’ insufficient cash flow to meet payroll, deficit spending, program overruns, unaffordable labor contract settlements, reserve levels and debt service,” the memorandum stated. “The District must act immediately and make budget reductions and prepare a fiscal recovery plan.”
Foley and Ron Wheelehan, assistant superintendent of business and technology services, plan to meet with the district’s board next month to begin discussions on how to cut the deficit by June.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget released Thursday could potentially add to the Aromas-San Juan Unified School District’s woes and create a crisis for schools statewide.
Schwarzenegger’s proposal calls for cutting billions of dollars from public schools, leaving the county’s education community readying to mobilize before budget revisions are due in May.
“That money has been committed, and people have been hired,” Foley said. “It can have a devastating impact on local districts.”
Foley said the proposals should create a “vigorous response from the education community.”
Wheelehan said education budget committees, with representatives from the teachers’ unions, school districts and the community, should begin meeting to discuss the proposed cuts. Wheelehan said the governor has pledged to deal with budget deficits through spending cuts, not tax hikes.
“Which is very painful for education,” Wheelehan said.*
