Local schools expected to feel state budget woes
If Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget is passed,
the resulting 10 percent cut to education funding would result in a
loss of millions of dollars for schools in San Benito County. The
statewide cuts proposed include an $865.1 million cut to
education.
Local schools expected to feel state budget woes
If Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget is passed, the resulting 10 percent cut to education funding would result in a loss of millions of dollars for schools in San Benito County. The statewide cuts proposed include an $865.1 million cut to education.
The cut would compound the problem of declining enrollment at schools in the county and result in reduced services for students, including larger class sizes and fewer staff members, both teachers and classified workers.
The worst effects might be seen in the Aromas San Juan Unified School District, which is already more than $650,000 in debt.
Local schools are especially hard hit as enrollment has been declining, said Stan Rose, superintendent of the San Benito High School District.
“It’s not just the state budget that’s declining, it’s the enrollment,” he said.
Enrollment is declining in the Hollister School District and Aromas San Juan Unified School District. District officials agree that enrollment has been declining due to the economy of San Benito County, and the sewer moratorium, which has put a halt on new building in Hollister.
At every school, district officials will have to notify teachers that they might not have a job next year before it is clear how much money district officials will lose, he said.
By law, school officials are required to pass their budget by June 30, Rose said.
“In theory, that is when the state is supposed to pass its budget,” he said. “The state budget rarely comes in on time.”
Certificated employees, a category that includes teachers, must be notified by March 15 that they will not have a job next year, he said.
“You have to plan for the worst and hope for the best,” Rose said. “It is entirely possible that teachers might receive notices of layoffs and then be invited back.”
For the high school district, budget cuts due to decreasing enrollment and the governor’s proposed budget adds up to a loss of around $2 million dollars, Rose said.
Due to declining enrollment, personnel can be reduced, Rose said.
At the high school level it often isn’t as simple as eliminating one class as students take multiple subjects, Rose said.
“The decision comes down to, can I deal with one less math class here, or one less social studies class there,” he said.
Class sizes will increase and certain electives will be eliminated “for a time,” Rose said, but cuts will occur where there will be the least amount of impact.
Foley agreed.
“Your core programs you have to keep,” Foley said. “That’s where it hurts – art, music. Those tend to be the first things that go.”
“It will be premature for me to say it will be this or that,” Rose said. “I’d like to be able to say you’re not going to feel it, but they’re going to feel it. We’re going to try to not decimate entire programs, because this will pass,” Rose said.
Hollister School District
Hollister School District officials planned to bring the matter before the public in a board meeting Feb. 12, after the Pinnacle’s press time.
The school board would approve the final reduction at the regularly scheduled meeting in March, or at a special meeting, he said.
Officials from the Hollister School District administer six elementary schools and two middle schools.
Since 2002, enrollment in the district has decreased significantly, said Jack Bachofer, chief business official from the Hollister School District.
Next year, the district is expected to have 150 fewer students, Bachofer said.
“When you’re getting $5,600 per student,” Bachofer said, “it’s a significant amount of money.”
Combined with reductions due to the governor’s proposed budget, and reduced funding for special services, such as special education, district officials will have to reduce spending by about $3.4 million, Bachofer said. The district’s total budget is $50 million, Bachofer said.
Based on recommendations from staff, Ron Crates, superintendent of the Hollister School district, will present a reduction proposal to the school board, Bachofer said.
Ron Crates, superintendent of the Hollister School District, said that “everything is on the table,” in terms of budget cuts, Bachofer said.
There will be a reduction in staff, Bachofer said.
“Some of that is going to be mitigated by retirement,” he said.
If retirement and reductions due to staff members leaving the district for personal reasons does not offset budget cuts, staff members will be laid off, Bachofer said.
No decisions have been made regarding what programs will be reduced, but it is a “fair assumption” that class sizes will be larger, Bachofer said.
To keep the public informed, between January 15 and March 11 district officials planned to have seven board meetings, either special or regular, regarding the budget cut process, he said.
“If you talk to people in education, they would say that California is one of the poorly funded states,” Bachofer said. “What is happening in the state is counterintuitive. We should be increasing the amount spent on people’s educations.”
Aromas San Juan Unified School District
Foley, county superintendent of schools, is responsible for certifying that the school district officials can meet their financial obligations for the current year and the next two years, he said.
Without reductions in spending, officials from the Aromas-San Juan Unified School District will not be able to meet their financial obligations this year, or for the next two years, Foley said.
According to preliminary projections, by June 30, district officials will be short of payroll more than $650,000, said Jacquelyn Muñoz, superintendent of the Aromas San Juan Unified School District.
All unnecessary spending in the district has been frozen, according to a Jan. 29 memo from Muñoz to district staff.
If the governor’s budget is passed, district officials will need to make cuts totaling more than $735,000 for next year, according to documents from Muñoz.
If district officials need to borrow $650,000 from the county, cuts for next year would total $1.4 million.
District teachers proposed a zero percent raise for next year, said Wayne Funk, president of the Aromas San Juan Teachers Association, the district’s teachers’ union.
At a recent board meeting, trustee Jeff Hancock introduced motions to roll back the salaries of school principals and the superintendent to last year’s levels, Funk said. School board members rejected those motions, he said.
The day after the vote, teachers were notified that their salaries were being rolled back to last year’s levels, Funk said.
District officials must come up with creative solutions to save money, Funk said.
District officials could not reduce more than $1 million through personnel reductions alone, he said.
“We can’t do those and still service children,” Funk said. “We’re thinking about charging for the high school bus service.”
Officials from most school districts provide students with school bus service, Funk said. That service is not required by law, he said.
It has been proposed that district officials work with staff from the cafeteria to make sure their budget does not run at a deficit next year, he said.
