EDITOR: As a concerned community member and a parent of a child
in the Morgan Hill School District, I attended the recent school
board meeting on April 26.
EDITOR:
As a concerned community member and a parent of a child in the Morgan Hill School District, I attended the recent school board meeting on April 26. Sitting in the audience amidst a large group of classified employees of this district, I could not help but feel compassion and sympathy for those hardworking, dedicated people who learned that their positions would be reduced or terminated at the end of the school year.
The administrative secretaries, clerks and technicians, custodial workers, bus drivers and others who are the threads that weave the fabric of our schools together were once again the focus of the District’s efforts to close the critical budget shortfall. What has happened to this District that classified employees will receive termination notices for another consecutive year, yet the Board will not consider rescinding the salary and benefit raises approved for its top administrators or eliminate their own stipends?
The Trustees were clearly informed at this meeting that $600,000 must further be reduced from next year’s budget, or risk the state stepping in to take over, but neither they nor top administrators elected to help the District.
The present state of our school district is much different than it was when the community worked aggressively to pass the construction bond in 1999. Our high school now has a declining enrollment, and the state has dramatically slashed district funding. We are now unable to meet the needs of our existing high school and other school sites because of poor financial planning by our District officials. For three consecutive years the certificated teachers have worked without any cost of living increases, and classified employees have endured forced reductions in hours and positions.
Despite all warnings of impending financial disaster, the District is determined to move full speed ahead at Sobrato High School that will be staffed and maintained through the general fund. However, there is currently no budget in place for Sobrato’s operating costs that the District estimates to be between $500,000 and $1 million.
Sadly some well qualified but shortsighted teachers have been convinced to staff the new high school with grandiose promises. Where will the trustees find the money to meet the District’s needs for next year? After stripping every educational program, trustees are still unable to agree on any other means to decrease the budget shortfall. At the April 26 meeting, they deadlocked on how extensive a cut should be considered for the elementary music program – one of the last programs to be examined. It appears increasingly obvious that cutting teachers’ salaries is the only way to close the budget shortfall.
Inevitably, all teachers will be asked to forego any future cost-of-living adjustments to salaries and benefit packages so the District can meet its budget obligations. They may even be asked to begin “volunteering” extra time to help maintain the existing programs and curriculum. Since the District realizes $250,000 in savings for every 1 percent reduction of teachers’ salaries, teachers will be asked to forego nearly 3 percent of their total compensation to save our District from state scrutiny.
Where is the community outcry to stop these deplorable actions of our elected board? These actions are due in part to our economic times, but they primarily result from the board’s inability to assess the District’s financial climate and budget accordingly. Continuing down this path will surely leave our school district in financial ruin. Dedicated, well-qualified, competent employees are now looking to the community to get involved.
It is now time for more concerned citizens to attend the school board meetings and let their voices be heard. It is inexcusable for our community to shrug off this disaster, and respond solely by pulling their children out of public education. The board of trustees must answer to a community that will not accept their schools in financial and academic chaos.
Deborah Sparacino, Morgan Hill
