News Impacting CA School Districts Through December 18
Federal News
California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell and Education Secretary Glen Thomas announced the release of key elements that will be included in California’s Race to the Top plan and requirements for local education agencies (LEAs) that want to participate in Race to the Top
Sacramento News
Bond debt will consume a substantially larger share of the state’s limited revenues over the next few years, according to two longtime budget watchers who testified before the Assembly Budget Committee this afternoon.
In a report by supervising pension actuary David Lamoureux, the CalPERS staff recommended the state’s contribution rise to $3.5 billion. That’s an increase of $200 million, or about 6 percent. The rate “smoothing” plan to begin replacing huge stock market-crash losses with a more manageable $200 million increase next year would leave CalPERS with an unusually low “funded ratio” after 30 years.
Reforming State and Local Governance
The state’s biggest business lobbying group has taken a stance on 14 of the nearly 90 proposed initiatives that are vying for voter approval in 2010.
Each year Capitol Weekly produces a scorecard showing the ideological makeup of the Assembly and Senate. As you might guess, the two extremes of “liberal” and “conservative” are well represented.
School District Impacts
Capistrano USD – Protests against proposed pay cuts
Shouting “We are united!” as passing cars honked their horns in support, about 1,000 Capistrano Unified teachers and their supporters rallied outside the district’s headquarters tonight to protest the school board’s insistence on 10 percent pay cuts to balance the district’s budget. About 700 teachers and other employees arrived in 12 yellow school buses, packing tightly into the northern end of Capistrano’s sprawling district office parking lot, wedged between rows of cars and cement planters. Union leaders pegged the crowd estimate as high as 1,500. Faced with a $25.1 million deficit in the 2010-11 school year, Capistrano Unified trustees on Tuesday approved a preliminary spending plan indicating the district might not be able to meet its financial obligations.
Anaheim USD Cuts $9.7 million
Anaheim City School trustees voted unanimously to cut about $9.7 million from their 2010-11 spending plan, mostly by eliminating 136 jobs. Positions include 24 custodians, 20 office assistants, 21 psychologists and behavior intervention specialists, 16 drivers, 12 librarians, nine teachers, six nurses and other positions. District officials said they need to trim $9.6 million more in coming weeks from the district’s $173 million budget to erase a projected deficit for the upcoming school year.
Lake Elsinore USD Closes a School
Lake Elsinore school trustees voted 4-1 Wednesday night to begin the formal process of closing Butterfield Elementary School and converting two other campuses for students in kindergarten through eighth grade. The move was made as the Lake Elsinore Unified School District looks to cut more than $10 million from its budget for the 2010-11 school year because of less than expected revenue from the state.
40% of Orange County School Districts File “Qualified” Fiscal Reports
In another fallout from the state’s deep budget cutting, nearly 40 percent of Orange County school districts have filed preliminary spending plans for the 2010-11 school year indicating they might not be able to meet their financial obligations, officials said. At least nine districts have already identified about $164 million in budget cuts for the 2010-11 school year.
San Diego USD Tough Choices
A menu of cuts and job eliminations proposed in the 2009-10 First Interim Financial Report would offset an $84.1 million deficit to the San Diego Unified School District’s $1.2 billion operating budget for the next two years. Kindergarten classes would revert to half-day sessions next year. Magnet programs and their school bus transportation would go. Hundreds of positions for teachers, librarians, and administrators would be eliminated. Many other employees would be forced to take four furlough days. A divided San Diego school board approved a daunting preliminary budget last night, an unofficial spending plan it is required to submit to the San Diego County Office of Education — six months before a final budget is due to the state.
Los Angeles USD uses Private Funds for District Administrators
Private money is paying for key senior staff positions in the Los Angeles Unified School District — providing needed expertise at a bargain rate, but also raising questions about transparency and the direction of reforms in the nation’s second-largest school system.
Oakland USD Eyes Adult Education Funds
Oakland’s adult education programs would be slashed by nearly 40 percent in 2010-11 ($4.5 million of the $11.5 million they currently receive in state funding), if preliminary budget recommendations made by Superintendent Tony Smith are approved by the school board in January. K-12 schools would absorb $9.3 million of the $28 million reduction, which means the budgets of individual schools would shrink by less than 5 percent in 2010-11.
Corona-Norco Looks at Two Alternatives
Two alternate proposals to cut $18 million for 2009-10 in Corona-Norco schools would either have all employees take five furlough days or lay off an estimated 280 people. Superintendent Kent Bechler gave both proposals to the board Tuesday but said he won’t ask the board to vote on the cuts until February.
Mt. Diablo Receives Advice on Future Parcel Tax
Complaining about budget cuts and blaming Sacramento for school district woes is not the way to pass a parcel tax measure, Mt. Diablo school district consultants say.
Pleasanton USD Considers Another Parcel Tax
Six months after a parcel tax failed to win the necessary votes to pass, parents and the Pleasanton school board appear ready to try again. The district announced it is facing a $3.6 million deficit in its 2010-2011 budget.
Pomona USD Budget Committee Working Hard
Members of Pomona Unified School District’s Superintendent’s Budget Advisory Committee went though the painful process of determining the district’s most critical programs and which ones to try to save when decisions about cuts come later this school year. This year the district must plan on cutting $23 million the state will not be providing and which equal about 16 percent of the district’s budget. The loss of the that money and the absence of $13 million in federal funds total a cut of $36 million or about 24 percent of the district’s budget.
Lodi USD Mulls Cuts
Lodi Unified School District will begin mulling where to cut nearly $30 million from its 2010-11 budget, and school officials are preparing to take drastic measures to balance their spending plan.
Vista USD Budget Commitee Working Hard
Over the last six months, a group of 18 educators, school employees and community members have spent hours coming up with potential budget cuts for the Vista Unified School District next year. District officials have estimated that they will have to cut $13.5 million from their $194 million spending plan for next year.
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