How Bad Will It Get?

As we head into May, there are still many questions to be answered for the 2011-2012 budget. And we have the crazy possibility that schools will be closed at this time next year.

Currently, we are building our budget around funding cuts of $350/student. However, if the all-cuts budget is adopted in Sacramento, with no new revenues, schools may be facing cuts of $5 billion, which would translate to over $800 per student. It is hard to even figure out how districts like ours would survive with such a steep drop in revenue.

As it is, the lower level of cuts would require increasing class size, shortening the school year by a few more days, and cutting some other district programs. If the higher level of cuts is implemented, more drastic approaches will have to occur.

State Senator Joe Simitian, an expert on education issues said, "Just take a minute to revisit this question: What does that mean for your district? I understand you think it is beyond comprehension. It cannot be beyond comprehension." Despite that admonition, I am not able to comprehend what we would have to do to balance our budget under that scenario.

The Superintendent of Fresno Unified School District, Mike Hanson, put it best, by saying that he has pulled rabbits out of hats before, investing in supplies, libraries and summer school programs by cutting elsewhere. However, he "can't find the hat now. There's no more rabbit. Let alone the hat."

State Superintendent Tom Torlakson says that would bankrupt more than 100 school districts and called it "almost unfathomable. It would be chaotic. It would be very costly."

Several programs would probably be eliminated by the state legislature in that event. Most relevant to us is the K-3 class size reduction program. It would mean that 30 students per class would once again become the norm. It is also possible that the state would speed up the 3-year phase-in of the law that moves the date for kindergarten eligibility from December to September.

Back to the length of the school year, state Treasurer Bill Lockyer last month suggested the school year might have to be cut by two months to achieve all the anticipated savings should Gov. Brown's tax extension fail. Although nobody has formally proposed such a drastic change, nobody can figure out what programs are left to cut that would realize the required savings.

Superintendent Search Underway

The Berryessa School Board approved the timeline for our superintendent search last night and we plan on interviewing finalists in early June. The official job announcement will be hitting trade publications starting the week of April 18.

Next week, the district, with the help of search consultant ELS, will be developing our district's leadership profile, which describes the leadership qualities we will be looking for in our superintendent. Wendell Chun from ELS will be in the district next week to interview stakeholders, which includes parents, teachers, classified employees, students, and other community members. It is important to have a broad cross section of the community involved in order to get a good feel for the culture of the community and our schools.

Your participation in this process will help to ensure that our district finds the right superintendent. Each stakeholder will be offered a 15 minute interview time on Monday until 8 pm or Tuesday 9-5. If you are interested in participating in the process, please contact me. Or you can contact Michele Holscher at the district office directly. She will be organizing Dr. Chun's schedule for the two days.

Another way to provide input is to fill out a survey that asks questions about what characteristics and qualifications you want in a board member and your thoughts on the state of the district. The survey is available on the district website to print, complete, and send by mail.