I want to thank everyone who has come out for our first two forums on the district budget. Over 100 parents, teachers, staff, and other community members came to Morrill Middle School and Vinci Park Elementary School to help prioritize the list of cuts that we are faced with for 2010-2011 and 2011-2012.
In the four years I have been on the board, the Berryessa Union School District has been forced to make cuts every year. This is due to the fiscal problems in California, and the fact that every year, our allocation of dollars from Sacramento has declined. Due to strong fiscal leadership by the District Office and Board of Trustees, we have been successful at keeping the budget cuts away from the classrooms. The district office and maintenance departments have absorbed cuts at a much greater percentage of their size than the school sites. As a result, we now have fewer custodians and mechanics, and an administrator to student ratio that is near the bottom of comparable districts in Santa Clara County.
We were also one of the only districts in Santa Clara County that avoided school site layoffs or increased class sizes in 2009-2010. That is because of a one-time bailout from the Federal Stimulus package in conjuction with the passage of our Measure W local parcel tax. It is also because our business department is doing a phenominal job of finding cost savings in all of our budget areas.
Unfortunately, the level of cuts for the coming year is unprecedented and we are left with far fewer choices that don't effect the education of our students. The only way to make up an $8 million shortfall over the next two years is with big dollar items. These are almost all programmatic things. That is why the choices presented at these budget forums include increasing class size, eliminating elementary school music, cutting middle school counselors, reducing media tech (library) hours, reducing school clerk and secretary hours, closing a school, and shortening the school year by up to four days.
The goal of holding these hearings is to find out how the public ranks these various items. That way, when the Board is making decisions about which items to cut as a last resort, we will have a feel for which are the least desirable choices. It will also help us decide what should be added back first in the event of an improved budgetary situation.
Your input is crucial in this determination. If you have not yet attended one of these forums, please consider joining us this week. Our final two budget hearings start at 7pm and will be on Wednesday Feb. 24 at Piedmont Middle School and Thursday Feb. 25 at Majestic Way Elementary School.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Board Budget Development Priorities
In December, the Board of Trustees approved a set of budget development priorities to help guide the decisions that will need to be made this year. Each possible budget cut should be evaulated using these criteria. While all five criteria are important, the order in which they were placed represents the relative weight that each will be given.
Here are the priorities as they were approved:
1) Maintain Core Academic Programs for Students: Our primary responsibility is to make sure we have educational programs in place that support our students in achieving state and district standards. The core subjects of mathematics, reading, language arts, history and science must be maintained.
2) Maintain Other Educational Programs and Services for Students: We acknowledge that successful educational programs include more than core academics and therefore, as much as possible, we support maintaining other programs such as music, counseling, sports, and electives.
3) Maintain Acceptable Levels of Eseential Services: The district must maintain a level of support services, such as secretarial, business, personnel, maintenance, and administrative functions. These services allow us to meet legal requirements and operational goals required for the district to operate effectively.
4) Maintain a Commitment to our Employees: The district strives to maintain the commitment to our employees to compensate the adequately, support their work, and retain them to the fullest extent possible. It is also critical that we focus on the importance of recruiting and retaining a high quality work force.
5) Make Decisions that are Sustainable: The district should make decisions with an understanding of their long term impact on the instructional programs for students, personnel, and essential services in the District and to avoid short term decisions that have long term consequences.
These priorities will be achieved by following a set of strategies, listed below.
Strategy 1 - The district Mission Statement will serve as the basis for all decisions.
Strategy 2 - The Board will approve a balanced budget for the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 school years.
Strategy 3 - The Board and Superintendent will invite and receive input from a broad base of constituents.
Strategy 4 - The Board and Superintendent will work with employee organizations to resolve the fiscal challenge resulting from a deficit in excess of $8 million and to minimize the impact on students and employees.
Strategy 5 - The Board and Superintendent will strive to maintain a balance between direct services to students and operational services.
Strategy 6 - The Board and Superintendent will be guided by the 5 principles listed above to prioritize choices when allocating scarce district resources.
Guided by the priorities and following the strategies listed above, the district will make it through the challenges of the next couple years and continue to serve the children of Berryessa with distinction. Please join us at one of our community forums on the budget on Feb. 22, 24, or 25, to provide your input to the choices we face.
Here are the priorities as they were approved:
1) Maintain Core Academic Programs for Students: Our primary responsibility is to make sure we have educational programs in place that support our students in achieving state and district standards. The core subjects of mathematics, reading, language arts, history and science must be maintained.
2) Maintain Other Educational Programs and Services for Students: We acknowledge that successful educational programs include more than core academics and therefore, as much as possible, we support maintaining other programs such as music, counseling, sports, and electives.
3) Maintain Acceptable Levels of Eseential Services: The district must maintain a level of support services, such as secretarial, business, personnel, maintenance, and administrative functions. These services allow us to meet legal requirements and operational goals required for the district to operate effectively.
4) Maintain a Commitment to our Employees: The district strives to maintain the commitment to our employees to compensate the adequately, support their work, and retain them to the fullest extent possible. It is also critical that we focus on the importance of recruiting and retaining a high quality work force.
5) Make Decisions that are Sustainable: The district should make decisions with an understanding of their long term impact on the instructional programs for students, personnel, and essential services in the District and to avoid short term decisions that have long term consequences.
These priorities will be achieved by following a set of strategies, listed below.
Strategy 1 - The district Mission Statement will serve as the basis for all decisions.
Strategy 2 - The Board will approve a balanced budget for the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 school years.
Strategy 3 - The Board and Superintendent will invite and receive input from a broad base of constituents.
Strategy 4 - The Board and Superintendent will work with employee organizations to resolve the fiscal challenge resulting from a deficit in excess of $8 million and to minimize the impact on students and employees.
Strategy 5 - The Board and Superintendent will strive to maintain a balance between direct services to students and operational services.
Strategy 6 - The Board and Superintendent will be guided by the 5 principles listed above to prioritize choices when allocating scarce district resources.
Guided by the priorities and following the strategies listed above, the district will make it through the challenges of the next couple years and continue to serve the children of Berryessa with distinction. Please join us at one of our community forums on the budget on Feb. 22, 24, or 25, to provide your input to the choices we face.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Help Guide the District's Budget Choices
How do we prioritize all the district's programs in light of the current budget crisis? The district faces cuts of up to $8 million for the next two school years and has to start making decisions in March about which programs to cut.
Should elementary music or middle school counseling be a higher priority? Which is more important, keeping class sizes small or keeping libraries open? Would it be better to shorten the school year by up to 4 days or close one of our 13 schools?
During the month of February, the Berryessa Union School District will be hosting a series of community budget hearings in order to get your answers to these questions. It will be important for a good cross section of the community to attend so that the board gets meaningful input to the decision-making process.
The first hearing will be this Thursday, Feb. 11, at Morrill Middle School. On Monday, Feb. 22, there will be a hearing at Vinci Park Elementary School. Piedmont Middle School will host a hearing on Feb. 24, and Majestic Way Elementary School on Feb. 25. All four hearings start at 7:00 pm. You are welcome to attend any or all of the hearings.
Should elementary music or middle school counseling be a higher priority? Which is more important, keeping class sizes small or keeping libraries open? Would it be better to shorten the school year by up to 4 days or close one of our 13 schools?
During the month of February, the Berryessa Union School District will be hosting a series of community budget hearings in order to get your answers to these questions. It will be important for a good cross section of the community to attend so that the board gets meaningful input to the decision-making process.
The first hearing will be this Thursday, Feb. 11, at Morrill Middle School. On Monday, Feb. 22, there will be a hearing at Vinci Park Elementary School. Piedmont Middle School will host a hearing on Feb. 24, and Majestic Way Elementary School on Feb. 25. All four hearings start at 7:00 pm. You are welcome to attend any or all of the hearings.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
New Blog Format
As you can see, I have moved the Board President's blog to a new host. The blogging service offered by Google (blogger.com) provides greater functionality than the district's site. For example, blogger offers the ability for readers to "follow" my postings and keep up with discussions. It also is more flexible for posting comments.
I hope that this site will provide a forum for a cross section of our community to participate in discussions on the budget and other important subjects throughout the course of the year. As I have said repeatedly, we will only get through the next couple of years if we stick together and collecting feedback is part of that. Please let me know your thoughts on any of the subjects posted here or anything of importance to the Berryessa School District.
I will get back to discussing the budget next week. Please consider attending one of our budget hearings. The first will be held on Feb. 11 at Morrill Middle School. Three more will occur on Feb. 22, 24, and 25. See the district calendar for details.
I hope that this site will provide a forum for a cross section of our community to participate in discussions on the budget and other important subjects throughout the course of the year. As I have said repeatedly, we will only get through the next couple of years if we stick together and collecting feedback is part of that. Please let me know your thoughts on any of the subjects posted here or anything of importance to the Berryessa School District.
I will get back to discussing the budget next week. Please consider attending one of our budget hearings. The first will be held on Feb. 11 at Morrill Middle School. Three more will occur on Feb. 22, 24, and 25. See the district calendar for details.
Fund Schools, and Reform Sacramento
There has been a lot of talk recently about school "reform." The state legislature has been rushing to pass reform measures in order to get its hands on a small amount of money from the federal government through the "Race to the Top" program. The amount of money at stake for most schools in California from RTTT is quite small.
Meanwhile, the Governor has proposed additional reductions to school funding that would reduce per pupil spending in California by another $200. Tami Gunther, a trustee of the Atascadero Unified School District, wrote the following commentary. I think it speaks to the great sacrifices that California schools have made over the past few years. In fact, our schools have done quite a lot to solve the state's budget crisis while continuing to provide quality education for our children.
"I think the reform most needed right now is not in our schools, but at the state level in our Assembly and Senate.
"North San Luis Obispo County school districts have had to absorb a decrease in funding of approximately 20 percent over the past two years. Our students have already seen reduced access to counselors, psychologists and nurses. They will be using older textbooks and have less time in the library. They are seeing much larger class sizes, they receive less help from their teachers since classroom aides have been cut and they will no longer have summer school to help with problem subjects.
"We have all cut transportation, administration and maintenance. Sports, music, drama, science and other electives have all seen reductions or even elimination. We are not talking about starting new 'reforms,' we're just trying to maintain the programs we already have that are working.
"Sacramento needs to stop talking about reforming our schools and get to work reforming the way decisions are made in our Capitol. Our local schools have already done more than our share to solve the state’s budget problems without having to bear the burden of yet another reform sent down by legislators who have lost touch with local reality."
Unfortunately, we are being asked once again to sacrifice programs in our school due to the state's budget crisis. Our children will suffer the consequences of whatever bad choices we end up having to make as we formulate our budget for the next two years.
(originally posted 1/26/2010)
Meanwhile, the Governor has proposed additional reductions to school funding that would reduce per pupil spending in California by another $200. Tami Gunther, a trustee of the Atascadero Unified School District, wrote the following commentary. I think it speaks to the great sacrifices that California schools have made over the past few years. In fact, our schools have done quite a lot to solve the state's budget crisis while continuing to provide quality education for our children.
"I think the reform most needed right now is not in our schools, but at the state level in our Assembly and Senate.
"North San Luis Obispo County school districts have had to absorb a decrease in funding of approximately 20 percent over the past two years. Our students have already seen reduced access to counselors, psychologists and nurses. They will be using older textbooks and have less time in the library. They are seeing much larger class sizes, they receive less help from their teachers since classroom aides have been cut and they will no longer have summer school to help with problem subjects.
"We have all cut transportation, administration and maintenance. Sports, music, drama, science and other electives have all seen reductions or even elimination. We are not talking about starting new 'reforms,' we're just trying to maintain the programs we already have that are working.
"Sacramento needs to stop talking about reforming our schools and get to work reforming the way decisions are made in our Capitol. Our local schools have already done more than our share to solve the state’s budget problems without having to bear the burden of yet another reform sent down by legislators who have lost touch with local reality."
Unfortunately, we are being asked once again to sacrifice programs in our school due to the state's budget crisis. Our children will suffer the consequences of whatever bad choices we end up having to make as we formulate our budget for the next two years.
(originally posted 1/26/2010)
Budget Cut Options
Last week, the Board of Trustees held a study session on the budget. We started with a list of options for cuts that we can make as we work to balance the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 budgets. These cuts are divided into two categories - those that the board can unilaterally impose, and those that would require agreement of our bargaining units during negotiations. As we discovered, the only way to come up with $8 million in cuts over the next two years is through a combination of cuts from the two groups.
A complete list of potential cuts is available on the district's website. That document also includes scenarios for balancing the budget that were derived by district administration before the study session.
Some of the largest savings that we could realize would require negotiation. These are K-3 class size, 4-8 class size, and reduction in the work year. By shortening the work year for all staff in the district by 2.5 days, we could save over $500,000. Over two years, that is 1/8 of our deficit. Increasing class size to 24:1 at K-3 would save $1 million each year. Increasing class size at grades 4-8 to an average of 32:1 would save an additional $816,000 per year. The board discussed pursuing these three changes, which would provide $4.6 million of the $8 million in cuts.
The discussion of budget cuts that don't require negotiation was much harder. Based on our discussion, the cuts could be grouped into three categories based on how comfortable the cuts would be. The first group would be enough to balance the budget in combination with the negotiated items listed above. Some cuts are already a done deal: reduce the salary of the superintendent and assistant superintendents ($10,000); reduce the work year for delivery drivers to 10 months ($10,000); and leave two maintenance positions vacant ($96,000). The rest of these "tier 1" cuts include reducing the assistant principals to 1/2 time at each middle school, transferring $450,000 worth of SLIP funds from schools to the district, and eliminating one position in the business office ($91,000).
The second tier of cuts includes reducing the work year of school secretaries and clerks by 10 days ($72,000) and reducing the number of middle school counselors from 6 to 4.5 ($160,000). The third tier includes things that nobody on the board wants to do, but must remain on the list in the event of failure to negotiate increases in class size and/or a shorter work year. These include eliminating the elementary school music program ($362,000), closing a school ($380,000), reducing middle school counselors to 3 (another $160,000), and reducing media tech (library staff) work days by 1 hour ($85,000).
In the absence of a negotiated increase of class size at the K-3 grade levels, the district may be forced to withdraw from the class size reduction program and reset K-3 classes to a 30:1 ratio. The savings from such an action would be $156,000 per year.
There are some additional items that will likely be used in some way to balance the budget over the next two years. First is a proposal to reorganize the middle school instructional schedule in order to save between $500,000 to $780,000 per year. This would likely mean fewer instructional minutes for students and less time for elective classes. Secondly, we have the flexibility to reduce our reserves below the state mandated level of 3%. We are considering reducing the reserves by 1% ($630,000) in order to prevent some of the cuts.
If all three of the tiered cut solutions, plus elimination of K-3 class size reduction, use of the reserves and reorganization of the middle school schedule are done, the total savings to the district over the next two years would be $6.8 million. That falls short of the $8 million deficit we are facing. Thus the importance of finding some negotiated solutions.
The board will continue discussing these scenarios at every board meeting for the rest of the school year. There are two meetings scheduled each month. In addition, there are four public hearings being held in February to allow the public to provide their feedback on the proposed cuts. Tonight, the board will ratify a budget calendar for the next 5 months. All upcoming meetings are posted on the district calendar.
(originally posted 1/19/2010)
A complete list of potential cuts is available on the district's website. That document also includes scenarios for balancing the budget that were derived by district administration before the study session.
Some of the largest savings that we could realize would require negotiation. These are K-3 class size, 4-8 class size, and reduction in the work year. By shortening the work year for all staff in the district by 2.5 days, we could save over $500,000. Over two years, that is 1/8 of our deficit. Increasing class size to 24:1 at K-3 would save $1 million each year. Increasing class size at grades 4-8 to an average of 32:1 would save an additional $816,000 per year. The board discussed pursuing these three changes, which would provide $4.6 million of the $8 million in cuts.
The discussion of budget cuts that don't require negotiation was much harder. Based on our discussion, the cuts could be grouped into three categories based on how comfortable the cuts would be. The first group would be enough to balance the budget in combination with the negotiated items listed above. Some cuts are already a done deal: reduce the salary of the superintendent and assistant superintendents ($10,000); reduce the work year for delivery drivers to 10 months ($10,000); and leave two maintenance positions vacant ($96,000). The rest of these "tier 1" cuts include reducing the assistant principals to 1/2 time at each middle school, transferring $450,000 worth of SLIP funds from schools to the district, and eliminating one position in the business office ($91,000).
The second tier of cuts includes reducing the work year of school secretaries and clerks by 10 days ($72,000) and reducing the number of middle school counselors from 6 to 4.5 ($160,000). The third tier includes things that nobody on the board wants to do, but must remain on the list in the event of failure to negotiate increases in class size and/or a shorter work year. These include eliminating the elementary school music program ($362,000), closing a school ($380,000), reducing middle school counselors to 3 (another $160,000), and reducing media tech (library staff) work days by 1 hour ($85,000).
In the absence of a negotiated increase of class size at the K-3 grade levels, the district may be forced to withdraw from the class size reduction program and reset K-3 classes to a 30:1 ratio. The savings from such an action would be $156,000 per year.
There are some additional items that will likely be used in some way to balance the budget over the next two years. First is a proposal to reorganize the middle school instructional schedule in order to save between $500,000 to $780,000 per year. This would likely mean fewer instructional minutes for students and less time for elective classes. Secondly, we have the flexibility to reduce our reserves below the state mandated level of 3%. We are considering reducing the reserves by 1% ($630,000) in order to prevent some of the cuts.
If all three of the tiered cut solutions, plus elimination of K-3 class size reduction, use of the reserves and reorganization of the middle school schedule are done, the total savings to the district over the next two years would be $6.8 million. That falls short of the $8 million deficit we are facing. Thus the importance of finding some negotiated solutions.
The board will continue discussing these scenarios at every board meeting for the rest of the school year. There are two meetings scheduled each month. In addition, there are four public hearings being held in February to allow the public to provide their feedback on the proposed cuts. Tonight, the board will ratify a budget calendar for the next 5 months. All upcoming meetings are posted on the district calendar.
(originally posted 1/19/2010)
2010 Budget - Will Education Be Sacrificed Again?
In his State of the State address, Gov Schwarzenegger said he was going to protect eductation from further cuts. But did his proposed budget, released last Friday, really do that? The details point toward further cuts to schools.
The budget released by the Governor proposed some maneuvering that will reduce the funding baseline for schools guaranteed by Proposition 98. As the California School Boards Association explains, “In the past, the governor and Legislature have manipulated the minimum funding guarantee to lower levels and then claimed to have ‘protected’ schools by funding them at that new, artificially reduced level.”
Proposition 98 put in place a formula that says that K-14 schools must receive at least 39% of all General Fund revenues. This was intended to be a baseline, with a built in increase to schools each year. During these terrible budget years, the state has used the Proposition 98 guarantee as a ceiling rather than as a floor. And as general fund revenue decreases, the amount set aside for schools can be cut.
In this year's proposed budget, the Governor estimates that since last year's revenue came in lower than projected, education's Proposition 98 guarantee is $1.5 billion less in 2010-11 than what it would otherwise be under current law. Another trick the Governor proposes is to eliminate the gasoline sales tax and increase the fuel excise tax. In essence, that shifts money from the general fund, which reduces the floor for education funding even more.
The latest estimate is that the Governor's budget would result in a decrease in per pupil funding of $190 per student. For our district, that means an additional reduction of nearly $1.6 million in 2010-2011. So we are now having to build that additional deficit into our plans for next year.
Setting aside education funding, the Governor proposes gutting crucial social services, such as CalWorks, Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, and food assistance programs, among others. The effect of this will be felt in the schools, as children from families in need will come to school without adequate nutrition and health. And it will be left to the schools to provide support for students who are not getting it elsewhere. All of these services are interconnected, so these budget cuts are bad for the future of our state.
You might ask - During such unprecedented fiscal times, do we have any choice? Well, there are all kinds of ways to increase revenues that would help offset the cuts being proposed. It is time for the legislature to insist on increasing revenue, rather than continuing to gut our crucial social and education services. Here are 10 policies that could bring in $20 billion in additional revenue to the state without harming economic growth and recovery.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Next week, I'll discuss the priorities for cuts that the Board discussed last night at our Study Session. I expect a robust discussion in the months ahead as we grapple with the enormous budget hole.
(originally posted 1/13/2010)
The budget released by the Governor proposed some maneuvering that will reduce the funding baseline for schools guaranteed by Proposition 98. As the California School Boards Association explains, “In the past, the governor and Legislature have manipulated the minimum funding guarantee to lower levels and then claimed to have ‘protected’ schools by funding them at that new, artificially reduced level.”
Proposition 98 put in place a formula that says that K-14 schools must receive at least 39% of all General Fund revenues. This was intended to be a baseline, with a built in increase to schools each year. During these terrible budget years, the state has used the Proposition 98 guarantee as a ceiling rather than as a floor. And as general fund revenue decreases, the amount set aside for schools can be cut.
In this year's proposed budget, the Governor estimates that since last year's revenue came in lower than projected, education's Proposition 98 guarantee is $1.5 billion less in 2010-11 than what it would otherwise be under current law. Another trick the Governor proposes is to eliminate the gasoline sales tax and increase the fuel excise tax. In essence, that shifts money from the general fund, which reduces the floor for education funding even more.
The latest estimate is that the Governor's budget would result in a decrease in per pupil funding of $190 per student. For our district, that means an additional reduction of nearly $1.6 million in 2010-2011. So we are now having to build that additional deficit into our plans for next year.
Setting aside education funding, the Governor proposes gutting crucial social services, such as CalWorks, Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, and food assistance programs, among others. The effect of this will be felt in the schools, as children from families in need will come to school without adequate nutrition and health. And it will be left to the schools to provide support for students who are not getting it elsewhere. All of these services are interconnected, so these budget cuts are bad for the future of our state.
You might ask - During such unprecedented fiscal times, do we have any choice? Well, there are all kinds of ways to increase revenues that would help offset the cuts being proposed. It is time for the legislature to insist on increasing revenue, rather than continuing to gut our crucial social and education services. Here are 10 policies that could bring in $20 billion in additional revenue to the state without harming economic growth and recovery.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Next week, I'll discuss the priorities for cuts that the Board discussed last night at our Study Session. I expect a robust discussion in the months ahead as we grapple with the enormous budget hole.
(originally posted 1/13/2010)
Monday, February 1, 2010
The Budget Challenge We Face
When I joined school board four years ago my intent was to be instrumental in enhancing educational opportunities for the children of the Berryessa Union School District. While the Board has remained focused on ensuring a quality education for our children, the reality of our current economy has, and will, have an impact in our district for the next few years.
In order to help you understand the issues our district is facing here are the answers to a series of questions about our budget:
What is the magnitude of the problem?
Based on current information (assuming no further funding cuts from the state) the district is facing a shortfall of $2.7 million for the 2010-2011 school year, and an additional $5.3 million for the 2011-2012 school year, for a total shortfall of $8 million over two years.
The district must submit a budget in July 2010 that shows balance for 3 years, which means that we must address the two-year projection immediately. Our district’s total budget is just over $60 million, so the shortfall we are facing is equivalent to 7% per year. If the state of California decides to cut funding to schools this fiscal year the budget shortfall will increase.
Why has this occurred?
Our funding comes almost entirely from the state of California. The bad economy has led to plummeting income, capital gains, and property tax revenues. Education spending makes up over 40% of the state budget. Once the legislature decided that they would balance the budget without increasing any revenues, it was inevitable that education would take a sizeable cut.
While the projected $8 million district shortfall takes into account cuts the state has already made, California starts 2010 with a $20 billion deficit. As of this blog posting no further cuts have been officially proposed, but there is no indication from the state that education is safe from additional cuts.
What about the Measure W Parcel Tax?
Measure W provides $1.7 million to the Berryessa School District each year. Without this revenue the district would have had a budget deficit for 2009-2010 and an additional $3 million shortfall (for a total of $11 million) over the next two years. We thank you for your support of Measure W, without which our students would be shortchanged even more.
Why was the 2009-2010 budget balanced so easily?
The state cuts to education were significant in 2009-2010, but the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), also known as the federal stimulus package, provided nearly $4 million to our school district for the current year's budget. That money is the reason we were able to run the district this year without significant cuts and without staff layoffs. However, this was only one-time money and we do not know yet if there will be any additional stimulus money for the next year. In addition to the stimulus money, our district administration has done a great job freezing spending and conserving resources during the past couple years.
How will we solve this budget problem?
It will take a collective team effort to balance the budget for the next couple years. The board will rely on input from all members of our community. Please attend board meetings and budget hearings, and provide your feedback at our meetings, through this blog or by email. In the coming weeks, I will discuss possible actions the board is considering and ask that you get involved and provide feedback on the choices our district is facing.
I want you to know that as a board member and parent of a child attending a Berryessa school I am committed to doing everything I can to ensure our district maintains a strong educational foundation for our children. Yes, these are tough times, but I firmly believe that if we work together we can meet these challenges without compromising the education of our children.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and I look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas.
(originally posted 1/5/2010)
In order to help you understand the issues our district is facing here are the answers to a series of questions about our budget:
What is the magnitude of the problem?
Based on current information (assuming no further funding cuts from the state) the district is facing a shortfall of $2.7 million for the 2010-2011 school year, and an additional $5.3 million for the 2011-2012 school year, for a total shortfall of $8 million over two years.
The district must submit a budget in July 2010 that shows balance for 3 years, which means that we must address the two-year projection immediately. Our district’s total budget is just over $60 million, so the shortfall we are facing is equivalent to 7% per year. If the state of California decides to cut funding to schools this fiscal year the budget shortfall will increase.
Why has this occurred?
Our funding comes almost entirely from the state of California. The bad economy has led to plummeting income, capital gains, and property tax revenues. Education spending makes up over 40% of the state budget. Once the legislature decided that they would balance the budget without increasing any revenues, it was inevitable that education would take a sizeable cut.
While the projected $8 million district shortfall takes into account cuts the state has already made, California starts 2010 with a $20 billion deficit. As of this blog posting no further cuts have been officially proposed, but there is no indication from the state that education is safe from additional cuts.
What about the Measure W Parcel Tax?
Measure W provides $1.7 million to the Berryessa School District each year. Without this revenue the district would have had a budget deficit for 2009-2010 and an additional $3 million shortfall (for a total of $11 million) over the next two years. We thank you for your support of Measure W, without which our students would be shortchanged even more.
Why was the 2009-2010 budget balanced so easily?
The state cuts to education were significant in 2009-2010, but the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), also known as the federal stimulus package, provided nearly $4 million to our school district for the current year's budget. That money is the reason we were able to run the district this year without significant cuts and without staff layoffs. However, this was only one-time money and we do not know yet if there will be any additional stimulus money for the next year. In addition to the stimulus money, our district administration has done a great job freezing spending and conserving resources during the past couple years.
How will we solve this budget problem?
It will take a collective team effort to balance the budget for the next couple years. The board will rely on input from all members of our community. Please attend board meetings and budget hearings, and provide your feedback at our meetings, through this blog or by email. In the coming weeks, I will discuss possible actions the board is considering and ask that you get involved and provide feedback on the choices our district is facing.
I want you to know that as a board member and parent of a child attending a Berryessa school I am committed to doing everything I can to ensure our district maintains a strong educational foundation for our children. Yes, these are tough times, but I firmly believe that if we work together we can meet these challenges without compromising the education of our children.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and I look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas.
(originally posted 1/5/2010)
Welcome to the President's Blog
Welcome to my new BUSD blog. As President of the Board of Trustees, I will be working hard during the next year to assimilate the input of the public as we tackle the tremendous budget challenges we face. This blog will be an avenue to present topics of importance and solicit feedback from the school community. Check back in January for the first in what I hope will be weekly blog posts.
Happy Holidays.
(originally posted 12/17/2009)
Happy Holidays.
(originally posted 12/17/2009)
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