After four weeks without a meeting, Morgan Hill School Board
trustees will meet next on Monday, and prominent on the agenda is
the budget. For the third year in a row, trustees are forced to
make more than $1 million in cuts. In the last two years, $6.1
million has been cut; trustees must cut $1.6 million from next
year
’s budget.
After four weeks without a meeting, Morgan Hill School Board trustees will meet next on Monday, and prominent on the agenda is the budget.
For the third year in a row, trustees are forced to make more than $1 million in cuts. In the last two years, $6.1 million has been cut; trustees must cut $1.6 million from next year’s budget.
The current budget for the Morgan Hill School District is $53 million. The largest portion, about 80 percent, is salaries, according to Deputy Superintendent Bonnie Tognazzini, who heads the district business services department.
Trustees must cut $600,000 more to balance the budget for the new fiscal year that begins July 1.
A budget committee, consisting of representatives from the district’s three unions – teachers, classified employees and administrators – and Superintendent Carolyn McKennan, Tognazzini and Assistant Superintendents Denise Tate and Claudette Beaty met earlier this year to put together a list of possible cuts, with some going on the “consensus” list, others on a “subject to negotiation” list and a “majority” list and still more on an “optional” list.
“The only item left from the budget committee meetings that the board has not yet acted upon is the music program operating at a cost of about $120,000,” Tognazzini said last week. “The board will be asked to take action to either retain or reduce the music program on May 24.
“Almost every day we hear some encouraging news about the state fiscal recovery coupled with a word of caution not to count on fiscal stability. So, we are waiting on the May revise to reflect the latest data.”
Tognazzini attended a workshop Thursday designed to help school officials navigate the financial shoals of the state budget deficit and the governor’s May revise on spending and revenue.
“We will attend the workshop to see if we can believe what we hear about improving the educational budget or should we remain cautious and stay our current course,” she said. “By the meeting of May 24, we should know if we will need to reduce further the balance of the $600,000 or if the shortfall will be covered by new state revenues.”
One of the items initially listed as a possibility by the budget committee was to close Burnett Elementary.
“The closure of Burnett was simply a brainstorm discussion that went out of control,” Tognazzini said. “Unfortunately when groups brainstorm, the rumor mill begins. We would have no way to move close to 390 children to another school over the summer. That type of closure takes great planning and was never considered by the board as a whole as an option for this coming school year.”
Another item on the “consensus” list that board members considered was the elementary music program.
Cutting the elementary music program would save $120,000. The program serves all fourth through sixth graders, with fourth graders studying general music while fifth and sixth graders may choose between chorus and band.
Last year, when the program needed $28,000 to continue or be cut, district booster clubs chipped in to keep the program alive. The Live Oak Emerald Regime boosters donated $18,000, while Britton and Murphy middle school boosters contributed $5,000 each.
Trustees discussed the possible cut and asked for more information at an earlier meeting. No decision was made. Trustees Jan Masuda and Shellé Thomas said the board needs to hear from the music teachers, from classroom teachers and from the union before a decision is made.
Trustee Del Foster said at the time that the board needs to weigh this issue carefully.
“The issue is, can we cut it without doing away with it,” he said. “It would be like cutting the marketing department; it could end up costing us more in the long run.”
He said parents could opt to send their students to private schools that have music programs.
Some members of the district’s classified employee union, Service Employee International Union (SEIU), said they were angered by trustees’ willingness to save the music program and yet cut hours and days for classified employees.
Trustees approved more than $57,000 in cuts to classified employees. Two part-time nursing positions were spared the budget ax.
Another cut that has been suggested by members of the community is an across-the-board salary cut for district employees.
“A 1 percent cut for everyone would generate approximately $400,000,” said Tognazzini. “That was not one of the items on the budget committee’s list.”
There have also been suggestions that top district administrators forego their cumulative longevity bonuses, at least for one year. Tognazzini said she and the two assistant superintendents, along with Superintendent Carolyn McKennan, are the only employees that get the bonuses.
“Just to give some background, the decision was made by the School Board, two boards ago,” she said. “They thought it was appropriate for what was happening in this district at the time, with people looking at other possibilities outside of the district.”
Tognazzini said the two assistant superintendents receive a $2,000 cumulative bonus, she receives $3,500 and the superintendent receives $5,000. This year, her seventh, McKennan received $35,000.
“Everyone in the district gets longevity, but how it works is different for each group,” Tognazzini said. “The classified employees receive 5 percent and the teachers a 4 percent increase, but they hit a stopgap after their first five years, then they have to wait 10 years based on the salary schedule. It’s step and column.”
