Start of a New School Year

Students are back in classrooms today, at the start of the 2012-13 school year.  The district was buzzing with excitement this morning as I visited several schools. 

District employees were busy during the summer getting things ready.  Personnel services made sure staff is in place to meet the student demands.  Education services was managing enrollment and making sure curriculum is meeting the needs of our students.  Enrollment was particularly challenging as a couple of our schools have reach overflow capacity.  The nutrition department made sure food services staff are ready to serve the kids. 

The district IT department greeted the new year with a newly revamped district website.  If you haven't seen it yet, check it out at www.berryessa.k12.ca.us.  It looks great.

As usual, summer is a busy time in the maintenance department.  The most visible upgrade this summer is the new roof on Piedmont Middle School.  It is the 13th and final school in the district to get a new roof paid for by our 2000 bond measure.  Noble School has a new fire alarm system and a great looking, educational garden.  Several schools got fresh coats of paint and resurfaced black top. 

My favorite scene at the start of a new year is watching parents dropping off new kindergarten students.  Most are taking photos as they watch their little ones head into class for the first time.  Their excitement is matched all over the district by students who have new teachers and new classmates.  I wish everyone nothing but success in the upcoming school year.

Measure K: Parcel Tax to Support our Schools

Berryessa voters have been very supportive of the school district.  Despite the fact that only 25% of the voters come from households with children in our schools, 72% of them voted in 2008 to support Measure W, which was a small parcel tax of $79 per year to support programs in our 13 schools.

The annual revenue we receive from the state of California has dropped by $9 million over the past five years.  While the revenues from our parcel tax ($1.7 million per year) doesn't make up for that amount, it has provided a much needed band-aid against having to make even more devastating cuts.  As a result, we have been able to maintain K-3 class size at just 24 students (most of our neighboring districts have increased to 30) and keep our libraries open.  We also pay for science and math teachers out of the Measure W funds.

In order to ensure that this source of revenue continues into the future, the Board of Trustees has placed an 8 year extension on the November ballot.  UPDATE: The extension is Measure K.  Measure K will not increase anybody's property taxes.  It will simply keep them where they are until the year 2023.  Given the uncertain fiscal climate in the state, it is important to have a steady, local source of funds that cannot be taken away by the state or any other entity. 

Berryessa voters will be hearing more about Measure K between now and election day, November 6.  Thanks again for all your support of Berryessa schools.

Budget Approved: Now the Hard Work Begins

On Tuesday, my Board colleagues and I unanimously approved the budget for the coming fiscal year, which starts on July 1.  The budget allocates about $58 million to operate our 13 schools and serve the projected 7,900 students.  Due to careful fiscal management over the past few years, we were able to mostly roll over our budget from this year and proceed without making any cuts to services or personnel.  This budget reflects the values of the Board of Trustees and the district under the constraints of our current funding level.

Our annual revenue from the State of California has dropped by $9.6 million over the past 5 years.  As a result, we have been forced into survival mode, which has led to reduction in services, staff, and educational opportunities for our students.  Some examples of the cuts include increased class size at all grade levels, shorter library hours, fewer hours for front office staff, fewer counselors, reduction in custodial services, and loss of many summer programs.  At the same time, our Special Education encroachment costs continue to rise (our obligation to educate students with special needs is growing and becoming more expensive).  

The State Legislature has passed a budget for next year that makes no cuts to education funding.  However, their budget depends on the passage of Governor Brown's tax initiative in the November election.  At this time, the projections are that schools will face cuts of about $440 per student mid-year if the initiative fails.  For Berryessa, that would mean a loss of $3.5 million.  

Such cuts, especially coming mid-year, would be devastating to the future solvency of our school district.  Major cuts would be required.  Amongst the drastic measures that may be required would be increasing average K-3 class size to 30 students and reducing the school year by 10 days.  

Given the uncertainty and the difficult choices the district would face if the initiative fails, the Board will be holding monthly study sessions in the fall to set priorities for possible cuts should they become necessary.  Our first study session will be held on the evening of Tuesday, August 7. 

To see the approved 2012-13 budget, click here.

Is Berryessa Facing Bankruptcy?

Yesterday, CBS 5 posted a story on their website about South Bay School Districts that "face bankruptcy."  The story says that "a new state report shows that many school districts in low income areas could be facing bankruptcy, including four in Santa Clara County. The school districts that could be in financial trouble include Berryessa Union, Evergreen Elementary and Ravenswood City." 

The story is based on the second interim report that our district submitted to the County Office of Education in March.  At that time, we admitted that based on current budget projections, and without drastic cuts, our district would go into negative balance in the 2013-2014 budget year.  For that reason, our budget was given what is called a "qualified certification."  The media identifies districts with that designation as having a potential for bankruptcy.

While the story is overly alarmist, it is definitely true that Berryessa School District is faced with a major challenge, should the state tax measures supporting schools fail in the November 2012 election.  We have built into our budget an assumption that the tax measures fail and the Governor's trigger cuts are implemented.  The result would be a cut of nearly $450 per student.  The Governor has proposed giving districts the ability to cut an additional 15 days out of the school year over a two year period if the tax measure fails. 

At our May board meeting last week, we approved our third interim budget report.  We now have a "positive certification" because we demonstrated a theoretical way to balance our budget in the 2013-14 school year.  The submitted interim report included increasing class sizes for kindergarten through third grade to 30 students, and shortening the school year by an additional 10 days (we already have shaved 2 days off of the school year).  Such changes would have to be negotiated with our employee groups, but such drastic action would be necessary if the worst case scenario came to pass.

This year's budget situation is even more unpredictable than in past years.  I attended, along with three district administrators, an informative workshop earlier this week on the California budget and its impact on schools.  The Governor's May revision to his budget provides flat funding for schools, but only if his tax initiative is approved by voters.  That is why we cannot count on the revenue and must plan for the possibility of the large cuts I mentioned above.

We have set aside enough money to make it through the coming school year (2012-13) without any cuts.  We will make it through next year even if the large mid-year cuts occur.  That is why we made the risky but right move to keep the status quo and avoid laying off any district employees.  The following year is where we are facing huge risks.  We hope that the Governor's tax measure will pass and the economy will exhibit growth, so that we can avoid further erosion of the educational services we provide our students.

Strong Support for our Parcel Tax

One lifeline for the Berryessa School District during these years of unprecedented cuts to our state funding has been funds from the Measure W parcel tax that the voters approved in 2008.  About 73% of the voters in our district approved a parcel tax of $79 per parcel that results in funding of $1.7 million each year.  

This money is local and cannot be taken away by the state or any other entity.  It has been used to pay for retaining science and math teachers, keeping our libraries open, and supporting other important district functions.  Since the parcel tax passed, the state has reduced our annual budget by about $9 million.  While the $1.7 million from the parcel tax doesn't come close to bridging that deficit, it does save some key programs from elimination.

Last night, the Board heard the results of a survey of the public's appetite for continuing the parcel tax for an additional 8 years.  No matter how quickly the economy improves, it is clear that there will be a shortfall in education funding for the foreseeable future.  That is why renewal of the parcel tax will be crucial for us to continue to adequately serve the students of Berryessa.

The good news is that 77% of the voters surveyed support renewing the parcel tax at its current level.  Interestingly, only about a quarter of the voters are even aware that we currently have a parcel tax.  That is why it is important to educate the voters on the existence of the parcel tax, and how much we appreciate the support they have given us.  Our district continues to show academic growth at all of our schools.  

If the Board decides to move forward with a parcel tax extension this year, it will appear on the November 2012 Presidential election ballot.  Thank you so much for your support of our local schools.  Berryessa's children appreciate it very much.

Governor Brown's Tax Initiative

The State of California has been struggling with budget deficits for nearly a decade.  Every year, schools and other public services have been cut, hurting the most vulnerable Californians and leaving our children behind.  California now ranks at best 47th out of 50 states in per-pupil funding for education.

The only way out of this downward spiral is to provide more funding for the state's general fund.  An improving economy will help, although it will take many years to get all the revenue back.  In the meantime, it is imperative that California voters pass Governor Brown's temporary revenue initiative that will appear on the November ballot.  The measure would increase state revenue by as much as $9 billion per year through a small increase in the state sales tax (1/4 percent) and increases in income tax rates for incomes over $250,000.  The sales tax increase rates would expire in 4 years and the income tax provision would last 7 years.

At our April meeting, the Berryessa School Board unanimously approved a resolution in support of the initiative, officially called the "Schools and Local Public Safety Protection Act."  This initiative is also endorsed by the California Teachers Association and all our local legislators.

A competing initiative promoted by Molly Munger and supported by PTA would raise more money for education, but would raise income taxes on all California taxpayers.  Polls show that this initiative faces very low support.  While the initiative might sound like a good deal for schools, the first priority should be stabilization of the state budget, which would only occur by approval of the Governor's initiative.  

The big problem with Munger's initiative is that voters are likely to be confused by multiple tax measures, leading to the failure of both.  If that happened, children would suffer and many school districts may even go bankrupt.  It isn't clear how the Berryessa School District will balance our budget going forward if faced with another $400 per student in cuts.

Yesterday's Los Angeles Times summed it up nicely: "It's conceivable that having two tax initiatives on the ballot will help persuade voters that Sacramento really does need more revenue after years of budget cuts, and a majority of them will rally behind one or the other. But it's far more likely that the dueling campaigns will split support for a tax increase, sending both to defeat and causing more deep cuts to the very schools Munger aims to protect. Brown's proposal is a better fit for the state's needs today."

It is very important that everyone who cares about public education in California get behind the Governor's initiative so we can present a unified message to the voters.  Let's stop the bleeding.  Then in future years we can and should find ways to increase schools' revenue streams.

Greener School Lunches

This week we celebrate Earth Day.  One way to improve the environment in our community is to find ways to reduce our waste stream and recycle as much as we can.

Every day, the district's Child Nutrition Services department serves about 3,500 meals to students at our 13 school campuses.  Every meal is currently served on a styrofoam tray.  These trays are discarded at the end of the meal, meaning that over 600,000 trays are discarded at our schools over the course of the school year.  Unfortunately, these polystyrene trays are made from non-renewable materials.  Even worse, there is no cost-effective way to recycle styrofoam, so all these trays end up in the landfill.  Since they don't biodegrade, they can linger for centuries.

I am very excited that starting in the fall, the district will be transitioning to trays made from compostable material.  Special thanks go to the district's Child Nutrition Services Department, led by Mari Fujikawa, for finding a way to make this happen.  While the trays cost about 3 cents more than the current styrofoam trays, this is a worthwhile investment.  I am proud that our district continues to find ways to be a responsible steward to the environment.  The use of compostable material will also teach our students to make wise choices when it comes to the kinds of products they buy.