School district struggle to balance budgets when numbers
dips
Over the last decade, enrollment in San Benito County public
schools increased rapidly, with a peak in 2002 of 10 percent
increases, but in the last few years it has been on the decline in
many districts, creating increasingly thorny funding issues for
some.
School district struggle to balance budgets when numbers dips
Over the last decade, enrollment in San Benito County public schools increased rapidly, with a peak in 2002 of 10 percent increases, but in the last few years it has been on the decline in many districts, creating increasingly thorny funding issues for some.
Enrollment in the Hollister School District reached its peak in 2002 at nearly 6,300 students, according to documents from the San Benito County Office of Education.
Since then, enrollment has fallen to less than 5,700 students.
“The school usually depends upon the number of children we have,” said Ron Crates, superintendent of the Hollister School District. “If we lose 100 students, that means we’re down $800,000. I have to bring to the board a balanced budget. Therefore, I have to reduce the budget by $800,000.”
Administrators try to keep cuts out of the classroom, said Jack Bachofer, chief business official for the Hollister School District.
“We have increased class size,” Crates said. “We have a reduction in custodial time, actual maintenance time, clerical time, administrative time. It’s spread across the board.”
Even when enrollment decreases, costs to run a school tend to go up over time, Bachofer said. Teachers and other employees receive salary increases based on experience. Electricity and other bills increase year to year.
Enrollment at San Benito High School reached a peak in 2005 with more than 2,990 students, according to the documents. Since that time, enrollment dropped by 60 students.
“Of course it has financial effects on districts,” said Jacqulyn Muñoz, superintendent of the Aromas San Juan School District.
School officials receive $6,500 per student, Muñoz said.
Enrollment in Aromas-San Juan reached its peak in 2000 at nearly 1,400 students, according to documents from the San Benito County Office of Education. Since that time, 155 students have left the district.
For administrators, that is a loss of more than $1 million.
“A million dollars you can do a lot with,” Muñoz said.
Declining enrollment makes a tough financial year even tougher, Muñoz said.
“It’s a double whammy,” Muñoz said. “It’s twice as much problem. We do everything we can to keep the programs moving, in place.”
Across the Central Coast enrollment is declining, Muñoz said.
“In the past we’ve done some analysis of some students who did not enroll the following year,” Muñoz said. “The majority have moved to the valley or out of state. It’s very expensive, especially in this economic age, to live in this area. Especially if you’re a young family.”
One district’s loss can be another district’s gain.
“We had 60 kids on a waiting list this year that we just couldn’t take,” said Eric Johnson, principal of Southside Elementary School.
Over the last decade, the school has grown more than 50 percent, increasing from 160 students to 250.
Of those, up to a quarter are interdistrict transfers, Johnson said.
“The actual rate of interdistrict [transfers]has remained constant over the last 10 years,” Johnson said. “Have you seen our API scores?”
The Academic Performance Index (API) a statewide standardized test and Southside students have received the highest, or among the highest, API scores in San Benito County for a decade, Johnson said.
As with Southside, 25 percent of students at Spring Grove School, a K-8 school, are interdistrict transfers, said Jenny Bernosky, principal of Spring Grove.
With nearly 700 students, enrollment at Spring Grove was fairly stable until a year ago, according to the documents.
Since 2007, more than 120 students enrolled.
“We didn’t expect our enrollment, the increase that we received,” Shannon Hansen, fiscal services manager for North County Joint Union School District, Spring Grove’s school district. “It helps to be in that situation where you are larger than you had predicted at budget adoption.”
While other districts were forced to lay off staff for the current school year that wasn’t the case for Luciano Medeiros, principal of Tres Pinos Elementary School, K-8.
“We didn’t really entertain that idea at all,” Medeiros said. “A friend of mine once said, ‘You have the magic. You can turn on the spigot.'”
Over the last decade, Tres Pinos Elementary School has grown nearly 25 percent, from 109 students to 136 students, according to documents from the San Benito County Office of Education.
There are more than 30 kids on a waiting list for Tres Pinos, Medeiros said.
It is a luxury, Medeiros said. In a panic situation, administrators could add three kids to each upper grade classroom and bring in nearly $60,000.
“Someday Tres Pinos will be out of favor,” Medeiros said. “Right now, we’re very fortunate to have a good reputation. My teachers work very hard for it.”
