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.
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4 comments:
It must not be that bad - http://www.mercurynews.com/salaries/bay-area/2010
You're taking a stipend and medical benefits.
I'll be handing out this data at your next board meeting. You may want to address your reasons here.
You should be ashamed.
Thanks for bringing up the topic of the Mercury News article on board stipends and benefits. You'll notice that Berryessa School District wasn't mentioned.
I do not take any medical benefits from the district, and only one of our current board members does. For the one who does, the amount of the benefit is capped at less than $6000 per year.
Our stipend is just $200/month. But given the current budget crisis, I have proposed that the board eliminate all stipends and benefits for board members, at least for the 2011-2012 school year.
And how do you get to your total package of $7,669 in this database at what you say is $200/month?
I don't receive any benefit other than $240/month in stipend. I am personally all for eliminating the stipend and whatever benefits other board members are receiving. Some others do and have received packages worth more than the stipend alone.
This year, I have been donating the stipend I have received directly to schools in the district.
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