By Carolyn Schuk
Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD) Board of Trustees voted "reluctantly" on July 7, 2009 to approve $1.5 million in cuts to the district's Adult Ed program. The Board took the action with the understanding that they will continue to evaluate budget alternatives at a special board meeting, tentatively planned for the end of July.
"No matter what we do it's devastating," said SCUSD Superintendent Steve Stavis. "These are all valued programs. There's nobody in this room that wants to cut any of the programs in this district. "
But, Stavis continued, the district is in "unprecedented circumstances," as a result of Sacramento's continuing budget debacle and another – estimated – $9 million in state education funding cuts that were announced less than a month ago.
"We've already made $4.3 million in cuts, all of which directly affect K-12 programs," explained Stavis. "In this crisis, the state has come up with three tiers of potential cuts. They've listed programs – and we don't have all of them – and we can take the amount we've received for those programs and use that money for any educational purpose for the current school year and the next three years.
"All of the Adult Ed programs in the state were cut by 20 percent," he continued. "We could have chosen to take all $4.5 million of the Adult Ed budget but we chose to reduce programs rather than eliminate them all together." Stavis also noted that the proposed cuts were solely his decision, and any animus about them should be directed to him and not district staff. (A salutary demonstration of non-buck passing that California's elected representatives would do well to emulate.)
The cuts laid out Tuesday night, in many cases, reduced the district's contribution to a program, but not necessarily the program offering itself. That's because these programs have other funding sources – two of the most significant are increased fees and state ADA (average daily attendance).
For example, while 50 percent of the district's direct funding for the high tech industry certification program is being cut, that $84,0000 will be replaced with higher fees. Thus, not only won't program offerings be reduced, they might even be expanded based on demand and increased revenue.
The cuts will eliminate about 18 full-time certified positions as well as two supervisory positions, one clerical assistant, and at least one custodial position. Free fitness and safety education at the senior center was among only three programs that were completely eliminated.
"We went to the City [Council] and asked if the senior center could pay some of the fees," explained SCUSD Trustee Andy Ratermann. "The City said, 'No' and that they could do it [fitness and safety classes] with volunteers. We can't fix that, but the City Council can."
With few alternatives for making up the shortfall this late in the year, the only other way to close the budget gap is by dipping into the district's reserve funds (Fund 400). Many who spoke at Tuesday night's meeting endorsed that alternative, while several Board members contended that it would be reckless to exhaust district emergency reserves, given the depressed economy, declining tax revenues, and a $24 billion state budget deficit.
"If this [cuts] comes in from the state at $15 million, we'll wipe out Fund 400," said Trustee Pat Flot, "and next year we'll be cutting this program 100 percent, and we'll be laying off teachers and cutting programs across the board." Two other programs at serious risk include K-12 summer school and class-size reduction, according to Superintendent Stavis.
"We have to give [layoff] notice by August 10, but we can rescind that any time," observed Trustee Don Bordenave. "If you don't take action tonight, the only option is to take the money from Fund 400. We can approve this tonight, but we don't have to implement anything tonight."
And Trustee Elise DeYoung summed up the present direness by saying that using the reserves rather than cutting Adult Ed was "to cut off our options for the future."
The Board ultimately voted 6 to 1 to approve the Adult Ed cuts, with the caveat that they would meet again in July and continue to explore alternatives for restoring the Adult Ed cuts. Trustee Albert Gonzalez, the newest member of the Board, cast the sole opposing vote.
For more information about the Santa Clara Unified School District, visit www.santaclarausd.org. You can find the details of the proposed program cuts in the July 7, 2009 meeting agenda at www.santaclarausd.org/overview.cfm?subpage=145153.
School District Boundaries Complicate All They Touch
No educational finance question in California is ever uncomplicated, and Adult Ed is no exception. Adult Ed funding doesn't come exclusively from district revenues – property taxes. Significant additional funding comes from state and county grants and comes with requirements to provide services countywide and regionally.
So one way of looking at these programs is as unfunded mandates from the county or state, as Trustee Ina Bendis observed. And if the district is doing the heavy lifting when it comes to funding these programs, it's reasonable to limit participation to residents of the school district.
But you can (and undoubtedly someone will) look at it another way: People who can't attend SCUSD schools – City residents who aren't in the SCUSD – are being taxed to fund its operating budget. That's because the $1.5 million that's being repurposed comes from state funds. And state revenue comes largely from income tax.
Limiting Adult Ed to SCUSD residents, or to give district residents preferential treatment over their Santa Clara neighbors, is likely to further inflame the already-contentious discussion about school district budgets and program cuts.
0 comments:
Post a Comment