School Board trustees wielded the ax with purpose Monday night,
chopping close to $2 million from next year
’s budget.
School Board trustees wielded the ax with purpose Monday night, chopping close to $2 million from next year’s budget.
After much discussion on which items should be pulled off the list of recommended cuts, trustees finally settled on cutting $1,997,069; added to their previous cuts of $1,106,281 for a total of $3,103,350, bringing them closer to their goal of $3.4 million.
District staff has recommended that the board cut $3.4 million from a general operating budget of more than $50 million to give an extra $200,000 buffer over and above the $1.5 million shortfall due, according to the administration, to declining enrollment, and the estimated $1.7 million in state funds cut because of California’s estimated $35 billion deficit.
The items saved from the district chopping block, at least for now, include: Machado Elementary School, slated to close for a savings of $29,078; a district nurse position, at $54,615; the director of educational services position, at $121,957; and one school administrator for $91,000.
The cuts approved Monday include 20 percent of elementary school site budgets, 15 percent of middle and high school budgets and additional percentages to bring the total cuts in the four departments of the district office to 20 percent.
The four district budgets are human resources, business services, educational services and the board and superintendent’s budget.
As a part of the cuts, but in a separate motion, trustees voted 6-1, Trustee Amina Khemici against, to cut 36 classified positions. The positions include 11 custodians (four that are retiring will not be replaced), two mechanics (leaving two mechanics in a shop that is open 12.5 hours per day), a groundskeeper, 10 bus drivers, two maintenance technicians, plus a variety of clerical positions, with some positions losing days per year or hours per day instead of the entire position.
Trustee Shellé Thomas said she was concerned about the cuts to classified employees.
“I don’t think it’s equitable,” she said. “We’ve worked too hard to build our schools not to take care of them. I don’t want them falling into disrepair because there’s no one to maintain them.”
Deputy Superintended Bonnie Branco, who is in charge of the business services department, said no one wants to make these kind of cuts but it is inevitable.
“The dilemma is, if we keep pulling things off the list, you’re not going to make the budget cuts you need to make,” she said.
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) President Bev Walker was forthright in her message to the board about the cuts.
“I want you to take a hard look at what’s going to happen (if the cuts are made),” she said. “You will be losing 27 percent of your custodial work force. Are you going to negotiate with Mary Alice (Callahan, president of the teacher’s union) to have the teachers clean their rooms? Who is going to clean the bathrooms? … You’re going to have to make some decisions. You can’t contract out for these services, and you can’t increase the remaining employees’ work load.”
Assistant Superintended Denise Tate, who leads the human resources department, said classified employees have a different situation than teachers and administrators.
“The process is somewhat different than the certificated process,” she said. “We must give our classified employees 30 days’ notice. The reductions would be effective June 30, so why are we doing this at such an early date? The economy is not exactly flourishing, and we want people to have an opportunity to find something else if necessary.
“The second reason is that we will then have the opportunity to meet with the employees and listen to their ideas. We have in the past looked at other ways (to cut costs).”
Although the board did vote to make the classified cuts, they did vote in favor of rescinding the notices of 42 of the 111.5 positions they noticed in March, including five counselors, two music teachers and 35 elementary positions. Kinder and first and second grade class size reduction therefore will not be cut.
Tate was optimistic about the possibility of a supplemental retirement program for teachers.
“So far, we have been notified that 13 of the eligible 92 employees will retire this year,” she said. “And of the 56 that showed up at a meeting, 45 of them signed up for individual meetings about the plan.”
The plan will not be offered to any of the eligible employees unless there are at least 21 who sign up, Tate said. For each five who take advantage of the plan, the district gains approximately $100,000.
Employees have until May 10 to decide if they want to retire with the supplemental plan.
